⛏️ Asteroid Mining Simulator
Plan resource extraction missions to near-Earth asteroids — prospect, mine, and return with riches from space
🤔 What Is Asteroid Mining?
Asteroid mining is the extraction of valuable resources — water, metals, and rare earth elements — from asteroids orbiting near Earth. A single metallic asteroid just 500 meters wide could contain more platinum-group metals than have ever been mined in all of human history. Carbonaceous (C-type) asteroids are rich in water, which can be split into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel, making them gas stations in space. Silicaceous (S-type) asteroids contain iron, magnesium, and silicates useful for space construction. Metallic (M-type) asteroids are the jackpot: dense cores of iron, nickel, cobalt, and platinum-group metals worth trillions of dollars. JAXA’s Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx have already returned asteroid samples to Earth, proving that surface operations on these small bodies are achievable.
Why does this matter? The space economy is projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2040, and asteroid resources are central to that vision. Water from C-type asteroids becomes propellant for deep-space missions. Metals from M-type asteroids could supply orbital manufacturing without the enormous cost of launching materials from Earth’s gravity well. Understanding asteroid mining means understanding how humanity transitions from a single-planet civilization to a spacefaring species.