Space Mining

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What is Space Mining?
Extraction of natural resources from celestial bodies

Objects of interest
Asteroids
Moon
Mars

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Why mine celestial bodies?
Fuel for space missions
Satellites
Deep space missions
Space tourism
Demand on Earth
Space colonies
Luna Ring

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Resources in Asteroids
C-Type Asteroids (Carbonaceous)
75% of known asteroids are C-Type
22% Water
S-Type Asteroids (Silicaceous)
17% of known asteroids
Silicates of Iron and Magnesium, Platinum etc.
M-Type Asteroids (Metalliferous)
8% of known asteroids
Rich in Iron, Nickel, Platinum etc.

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Resources in Moon
Helium-3 is available in millions of tons
10 ppm Water
Possibility of rare earth elements

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Resources in Mars
Martian Meteorites
Rich in Mg, Al, Fe, Ti and Cr
Trace amounts of Li, Co, Zn, Cu, Au and W
Blueberries Hematite
Ni-Fe Meteorites

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Benefits of Asteroid Mining
Weak gravity
Escape velocity 0.1 m/s
No gravitational stresses on structures
Minerals not concentrated at the core
Rotation could be stopped for solar power equipments
Water Fuel
Not compact structures easy to mine

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Initiatives
Planetary Resources
Deep Space Industries
Kepler Energy and Space Engineering

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Planetary Resources
Arkyd Series 100 (The Leo
Space Telescope)
To analyze detect resources
on Earth and provide other
data

Arkyd Series 200 (The

Interceptor)
To analyse Near Earth
Asteroids within 10 to 30
Lunar Radii

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Planetary Resources
Arkyd Series 300
(Rendezvous Prospector)
Deep space exploration upto
half way across the inner Solar
system
Arkyd 3 Launched in July,
2015
Arkyd 6 To be launched in
2016 with additional sensors
3D Systems included as
investor

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Deep Space Industries
Fire Fly
Triplets of satellites used to
prospect asteroids
May take 6 months to 2
years to start prospecting
depending on the orbit of the
asteroid
Dragon Fly
Waves of three nearly
identical spacecrafts
They will bring samples back
to earth (5-10 kg)

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Deep Space Industries
Harvestors
Extract materials and bring
them to high Earth orbit
Fuel Water from asteroids
2 4 years per cycle

Processing facility

Microgravity Foundry

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Keller Energy and Space Engineering
CORNUCOPIA Asteroid Mining System With existing technology
Buzz Aldrin Earth/Mars Express

APIS Asteroid Provided In-situ Supplies

Optical Mining Use of Suns energy
Funded by NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)

NASA
OSIRIS-Rex : Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,
Security and Regolith Explorer
Launch 2016 / Contact 2018 / Sample 2019 / Return - 2023

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Possible methods of Mining
Surface Mining
Underground Mining
In-Situ Extraction
Heating
Monds Process

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Challenges
Debt servicing
Deceleration of material if brought back to Earth
Terrestrial Mining and processing techniques require
gravity
Propulsion technologies that use asteroid materials
Transport of men, machinery and equipment from Earth
Communication delay due to distance
Complex market conditions
Legal constraints

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References
Buet, M., Pearson, J., Bennett, D.S. & Komerath, N.,
(2013), Robotic Mining System for Rapid Return of
Asteroid Resources, International Space Development
Conference
https://www.nasa.gov
http://phys.org
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.shimz.co.jp
http://science.howstuffworks.com
http://www.space.com

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 References
http://www.astronomysource.com
http://www.permanent.com
http://www.spacefuture.com
http://www.planetaryresources.com
http://deepspaceindustries.com
http://www.kesellc.com

Jevendiran Ramadasu, 466505 Space Mining

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