Securing space resources is a topic I emphasized in my book Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier. Last year, I had the honor of testifying on this topic to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. That Committee has jurisdiction over domestic mineral exploration and space resources, as it oversees the US Geological Survey. USGS conducts lunar research and mapping through the Astrogeology Science Center. While congressional hearings are often dull set pieces, this one offered a remarkably lively and informative discussion of the practicalities and opportunities facing America regarding space resources. I commend the leadership of the Committee in investing their time researching and asking questions on complex topic of space, outside of the usual venue of the Science and Technology Committee. America deserves innovative thinking in Washington, and a willingness to act with long-term vision.
The global race for mining and critical minerals is on. Through their Belt and Road Initiative and other investments, China has been quietly tying up mines and processing facilities around the world, most notably in Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America. The currently accessible minerals resources of North America cannot support our own demand. This has left America reliant on a Chinese controlled supply chain.
We make our own situation worse with a burdensome regulatory environment that strangles our domestic firms and slows the development of valuable mines like Resolution Copper in Arizona. Mark Cothran, a Procurement Business Manager at Resolution, underscores this, “The need for mining domestically has certainly increased. We need more exploration and a more friendly regulatory environment if we’re to onshore more of our mineral supply.”
In response to this the White House released a 2023 report addressing methods to improve and expand mining on public lands. While this ambitious, the Department of Defense reports that, “only 12 percent of U.S. territory has modern high-resolution geophysical surveys of the subsurface, and only 35 percent is covered by detailed geologic mapping of the surface and near-surface…” Aluminum, cobalt, lithium, and platinum (all found here on Earth and abundant in space) are just some of the 50 critical minerals designated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as essential to the economic security of the United States. These are resources that most in the Western World take for granted, perhaps unaware that China currently controls roughly 60% of global production and 85% of global processing capacity. These minerals are also key to practically everything we use, from cell phones, computers, and cars, to drones and missiles. Dependence on an aggressor state for critical factor inputs to the economy and military is not a strategy for national survival. Radically innovative ideas are demanded here.
This is why we see interest in space mining startups. You may recall the majestic flameouts of high-profile asteroid mining startups a decade ago. Companies like Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources intended to make trillionaires out of celebrity backers like James Cameron. They ran into the hard reality of actually getting to distant asteroids and returning materials from them. Given the distance and significant velocities of these valuable space rocks, relative to Earth, these startups offered business models the would not close within the lifetimes of any venture capitalists.
Eric Sundby, a former student of mine, was also a witness for the Natural Resources Committee. Sundby founded TerraSpace with Victor Bautista. Their startup is developing machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities that will automate the assaying process for minerals in situ (on site). Technologies such as these will enable faster and more precise results in the exploration process for the mining industry, while enabling exploration in extreme environments such as the seabed.
Other companies such as Loke Marine Minerals, a Norwegian start-up, have also taken the leap into developing technology for the growing need of critical minerals. Loke is focused on harvesting critical minerals from the sea floor, particularly manganese nodules. Using experience in deep sea oil and gas drilling, the company plans to benefit from recent approvals Norway has made in legalizing the practice of mining the sea floor. The sea may provide an end run for the West in escaping China’s monopolization of terrestrial mining.
Crow Industries, is focused on autonomous mine mapping, which is a critical step in the process for terrestial mines to properly plan their operations and target minerals that eventually might be sampled and analyzed by companies like TerraSpace.
You may be asking: “What does all of this have to do with space?” Actually, a lot. The Moon is just three days away and packed with minerals. Lunar missions, equipped with technologies from firms like Terraspace, Loki, or others could remove the need for costly sample return missions. This past February, America returned to the Moon for the first time since 1972 via a private company, Intuitive Machines. While its lander, Odysseus, fell on its side shortly after touchdown, it has proven that the private sector can achieve tremendous things in space. It’s only a matter of time until IM refines its capabilities and increases our access to the Moon.
In speaking with Intuitive Machines’ CTO, Dr. Timothy Crain, he gave insight into how this technology fits within the space sector: “From our perspective, there is a natural evolution to mineral utilization in space. The foundation is prospecting with remote orbital sensors and direct surface technology like TerraSpace is developing. We’ll then move into local exploratory sampling and mining on single mission scales. Things will really take off when we scale up infrastructure deployed over multiple missions and begin to utilize lunar and space resources for our needs in space. Finally, once a healthy in situ resource utilization economy is established, you’ll see imports back to Earth as part of regular trade. This vision is no longer science fiction, it’s on our doorstep. With the right leadership, the United States can play a key role in this new economy.”
This new space race is being led by entrepreneurs and commercial companies that have built dual-use capabilities, and are focused on revenue generating terrestrial applications. This is The Way to a sustainable space economy. Policy makers and investors should take note.
With the commercial sector taking the lead, Western governments and investors should embrace this new era of autonomous mining on Earth, under the sea, and in space.
It’s time to mine!
(disclosure: the author is an advisor to Terraspace)
