Could mining in space be the future for resources?

He is part of an illustrious team of wealthy entrepreneurs and scientists looking to kick-start a project to hunt for precious metals among the asteroids of the solar system.

The prize is certainly a rich one. Asteroids are rich with many valuable elements which are rare on earth. A 500-metre asteroid could yield more platinum than has ever been mined in history. Rare earth metals – crucial to all kinds of modern industrial applications, from solar panels to low-energy light-bulbs, are all abundant. The trick is to get there, and get them back.

The venture, Planetary Resources Inc certainly has some powerful backers: Google founder and chief executive Larry Page is helping to fund the project, as is Google chairman Eric Schmidt. The computer pioneer and former presidential candidate Ross Perot is also behind the company.

The founders of the project are Peter Diamandis, one of the pioneers of private space flight, and the space tourism pioneer Eric Anderson. At a press conference in Seattle, they outlined their ambitious plan.

“Since my early teenage years I have wanted to be an asteroid miner,” said Mr Diamandis. “The goal of Planetary Resources is to make the resources of space available to humanity both in space and here on earth.”

Long-term plan

Within two years, they hope to launch a network of satellite telescopes to start looking for mineral-rich asteroids to target. Within ten years, they hope to be helping other would-be miners to explore for extra-terrestrial minerals. They believe that there are 1,500 asteroids which are as easy to access from earth as the moon. And from there, they have to figure out how to bring the bounty back.

As staging posts in their exploration of the solar system, they hope to target asteroids rich in another precious material, water. This could be split into its constituent elements, oxygen and hydrogen, for use as fuel. One day, it could even support human space explorers.

All that, however, is a long way in the future. As an illustration of how difficult the space pioneer’s journey will be, an upcoming NASA mission gives a guide.

Since my early teenage years I have wanted to be an asteroid miner. The goal of Planetary Resources is to make the resources of space available to humanity both in space and here on earth. Peter Diamandis, one of the pioneers of private space flight

In 2016, they will launch a project called Osiris Rex, which will visit an asteroid called RQ36, about the size of five football fields. It hopes to bring back just a 60 gram sample of asteroid material, at a cost of $1bn.

However high the price of gold rises, it will be very difficult to make any kind of profit from space mining.

Cameron and his colleagues have certainly captured the public imagination with their plan to follow in the footsteps of his movie characters, and mine the riches of the solar system. In Avatar, the mineral they miners sought was called “Unobtainium”. The platinum of the asteroid belt may prove similarly hard to obtain.