The Future Of The Space Economy | CNBC Marathon
CNBC・37 minutes read
Asteroids hold significant value in resources like platinum, prompting companies like TransAstra and Astroforge to develop technologies for space mining. Challenges faced include legal uncertainties, high extraction costs, and the difficulty in selecting suitable asteroids for mining.
Insights
- Asteroids hold vast resources such as platinum worth billions, supporting a trillion-person population, but space mining for precious metals may not be economically viable due to high extraction and transportation costs.
- Emerging companies like Astroforge aim to mine rare earth elements in space, utilizing innovative technologies to extract valuable materials efficiently, addressing Earth's scarcity issues, and planning test missions before official mining missions in 2025.
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Summary
00:00
"NASA's New Spacesuits: Innovation and Efficiency"
- A single asteroid the size of a football field could contain $25 billion to $50 billion worth of platinum.
- There's enough material in asteroids to support a population of a trillion people.
- NASA's current spacesuits were designed in the '70s and are at the end of their useful life.
- NASA has spent over $1 billion on redesigning and producing new spacesuits.
- NASA will not build the next space station and will rely on outside companies for technology.
- Eric Valis, a senior systems engineer, is testing a prototype of a new spacesuit for NASA to use by 2026.
- NASA has faced funding issues and lack of a clear purpose in updating its spacesuits.
- Collins Aerospace and Axiom Space won contracts to design and maintain new spacesuits for NASA.
- The new spacesuits are lighter, more adjustable, and offer better mobility and visibility than current EMUs.
- The new suits are designed to fit a wider range of astronauts, reduce launch costs, and enhance mobility for future planetary missions.
14:01
"Space Industry Evolution: Affordable Access, Commercialization, Growth"
- Countries previously unable to participate in space activities now have the opportunity due to increased affordability and commercialization.
- Predictions suggest that spacesuit designs will evolve to accommodate broader customer needs, including space tourism.
- The space tourism market is projected to reach $4 billion by 2030.
- NASA awarded a $750,000 grant to develop a 3D printed spacesuit prototype for Mars and beyond.
- Advantages of the new spacesuit include repeatable manufacturing, personalized design, and on-site replacement capabilities.
- Astronauts are expected to use spacesuits more frequently for moon and Mars explorations.
- Private companies like Axiom Space and Sierra Space are developing commercial space stations to replace the aging ISS.
- Axiom Space plans to launch four modules, with the first in 2024, funded by private astronaut missions.
- Sierra Space is working on an inflatable Life Habitat for various space missions, with plans to launch by 2026 or 2027.
- Nanoracks aims to repurpose spent rocket stages into research stations for private space endeavors by 2024.
26:45
Challenges and Potential in Space Mining
- The Commercial Crew program aimed to send astronauts to the ISS by 2017 but faced funding cuts and failed tests, delaying the launch until 2020.
- NASA's reliance on Russian Soyuz rockets post-shuttle program in 2011 cost over $90 million per seat, reduced to $55 million per seat when SpaceX took over in 2020.
- Congress provided only $15 million and $17 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively, out of NASA's $150 million request for low Earth orbit commercial development.
- China and Russia are advancing in establishing space stations, with NASA aiming to shift focus to moon and Mars exploration.
- Space mining, once seen as a lucrative venture, has yet to materialize commercially despite predictions of vast resources on asteroids.
- Companies like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries have been acquired, with new startups like AstroForge and TransAstra attempting asteroid mining.
- NASA and JAXA have collected asteroid samples but face challenges in commercializing space mining due to high costs and lack of investor patience.
- Space mining for precious metals like platinum may not be economically viable due to high costs of extraction and transportation.
- Asteroids hold potential value in water and helium, crucial for space travel and other applications, with companies like TransAstra focusing on mining these resources.
- TransAstra's optical mining technology captures asteroids, extracts water and other gases, aiming to eventually mine all elements on the periodic table, with initial focus on water for rocket propellant.
40:22
Astroforge: Space Mining for Rare Earths
- Astroforge aims to be revenue positive at every step, utilizing near-term businesses to mature technology before venturing into asteroid mining.
- The mining process involves three stages: vaporization of the material, ionization of the cloud of atoms, and sorting the positively charged atoms.
- Founded in 2022, Astroforge plans to mine rare earth elements, specifically platinum group metals, in space to address the scarcity on Earth.
- The key technology developed by Astroforge is an ore processing system comprising an excavation subsystem and a refinery to extract valuable materials efficiently.
- To reduce costs, Astroforge will attach its refining payload to off-the-shelf satellites and launch them using SpaceX rockets.
- Astroforge has raised $23 million in venture capital funding and plans to conduct test missions before its first official mining mission in 2025, targeting near-Earth asteroids.
- Challenges faced by asteroid-mining companies include legal uncertainties due to the lack of international laws governing space mining, as well as the difficulty in selecting asteroids for mining based on existing observation data.
