Comments on: Another asteroid mining company announces its plans http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/01/22/another-asteroid-mining-company-announces-its-plans/ Tracking the entrepreneurial space industry Fri, 12 Sep 2014 14:33:32 +0800 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 By: Brandon Wittlake http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/01/22/another-asteroid-mining-company-announces-its-plans/comment-page-1/#comment-860817 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 03:48:13 +0000 http://www.newspacejournal.com/?p=1887#comment-860817 There is no denying that upstart space mining corporations such as Planetary Resources and DSI are setting humanity up for many future advancements in space. The question that both Jeff Faust and Chris Radcliff raise about the financial structuring is a very important one. Both companies already have ideas about how to begin locating and determining the potential resource(s) of many available near earth objects, as well as the the ability to take and return sample sections, but how are they going to make all the initial R&D profitable? While it is believed that a single 500 meter asteroid could contain more platinum then the world has ever mined (NBC News), you can only collect and haul a certain amount of material back to Earth. One easy example of this NASA’s proposed OSIRIS-Rex mission. The missions project cost is estimated at one billion dollars to return with only 2 oz. of material. With platinum currently trading around $1,500 per oz. it doesn’t take a mathematician to see that this type of plan is unsustainable.

“There’s Gold (and Platinum, Etc.) in Them Thar Asteroids.” NBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2013.

]]> By: Chris Radcliff http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/01/22/another-asteroid-mining-company-announces-its-plans/comment-page-1/#comment-761051 Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:47:01 +0000 http://www.newspacejournal.com/?p=1887#comment-761051 Near the end of the press conference, DSI mentioned that they’re only 6 months old at this point, with no permanent HQ and only early-stage investors, none of whom were named. I don’t personally think that precludes them from accomplishing great things in the long term, but I agree with Jeff that 2015 goes past an ‘agressive’ timeline into ‘patently unlikely’ territory.

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