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The government of Luxembourg is taking a page out of the U.S. books by officially launching an initiative to promote the mining of asteroids for minerals.
The move comes barely three months after President Barack Obama enacted legislation to foster such ventures.
The tiny European country, which has been studying possible involvement in the sector since 2013, aims to become Europe’s centre for space mining.
Luxembourg is one of the euro zone’s wealthiest countries and already has a long-standing space industry and played a significant role in the development of satellite communications a generation ago, including setting up SES, one of the world’s largest satellite services company.
Luxembourg already has a long-standing space industry and has played a significant role in the development of satellite communications.
Revealing the program, Etienne Schneider, the country’s vice-Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy said Luxembourg’s aim was “to open access to a wealth of previously unexplored mineral resources on lifeless rocks hurling through space, without damaging natural habitats.”
While the authority said the investment budget for space mining ventures hasn’t been set, it is believed that the government could fund as much as 45% of research and development projects in the area.
Trillion-dollar industry
Deep Space Industries (DSI), a U.S.-based asteroid mining firm, says the industry is already attracting $2 billion a year in private investment. The Californian firm launched a subsidiary last year in Luxembourg and praised its government for embracing the future.
“There are moments when the world changes. By joining the U.S., private citizens and companies who are moving outwards into space, Luxembourg is making this time in history one of those moments,” DSI Chairman Rick Tumlinson said in a statement Wednesday.
The Grand Duchy will also put in place a legal framework to give operators who are based in the country the confidence to go about their business.
READ ALSO: Obama boosts asteroid mining, signs law granting rights to own space riches
Former European Space Agency boss Jean-Jacques Dordain will be one of the country’s advisers on the matter.
Geologists as well as emerging companies, such as Planetary Resources, a firm pioneering the space mining industry, believe asteroids are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth, making up a market valued in the trillions of dollars.
7 Comments
Mark Addison
It is good to see that our planets Governments are passing legislation on regions inside “their self appointed” territories……where would the court of appeal be?….LOL
Mark Harder
The mouse that roared.. Similar to Antarctica, we need treaties establishing zones of sovereignty to protect us from wars fueled by our own greed.
Philip S. Baker
Reflecting a slowdown in the pace of global GDP in general and a rebalancing of the Chinese economy in particular, important segments of the base metals complex (e.g., nickel, zinc, copper, aluminium, lead, etc.) are struggling under the weight of oversupply. This is evidenced by ballooning inventory levels and depressed prices.
Within this context, the signing into law of the US Space Act of 2015 (HR 2262) and the investment by asteroid mining companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, betoken a new era of extra-terrestrial mining. It will no doubt set in train, at the level of the United Nations (UN), a consultative process aimed at
establishing a legislative framework similar to that of the UN Law of the Sea Convention for the joint exploration and development of outer space.
Indeed, one could quite reasonably argue that the International Space Station (ISS) serves as a model for building an extra-terrestrial mining architecture. In short, the asteroid corridors between Jupiter and Mars and between Mars and Earth will sensibly be treated as a Joint Development Area (JDA) which could result in compliance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
However, when developments in seafloor mining (pioneered by firms such as Nautilus Minerals Inc.) are added to the mix, a very likely scenario that emerges is the substantial expansion of the feedstock sources for an already-bloated base metals complex. The irresistible question is: will there be a commensurate exponential increase in demand for base metals through a proliferation of innovations resulting in new base metals-intensive end use applications? If not, then oversupply, leading to depressed prices, is likely to remain a feature of important segments of the global base metals complex for 2016 and several years into the future.
esqualido
The Mousd that Ored.
patentbs
Maybe some day this kind of thing will be important but today it just takes away from the will to resolve policy and supply issues on this planet.
MiniBulk Inc.
Maybe we should perfect mining down here first? Regardless, some have estimated a single asteroid may contain over $1 trillion worth of precious metals. http://www.asterank.com/
Daniel Kyle Prince
Well I’m going to be the first “space pirate” and I’m gonna steal their mined ore when they transport it back to Earth, hell yeah! that’s my career choice! who wants to sign up to be in my crew?