By 
October 25th, 2018
Credit: Deep Space Industries
ASDReports of Amsterdam, the Netherlands has published a new study on the prospective space mining market.
The appraisal — Space Mining Market – Global Forecast to 2025 – reports in a statement that the space mining market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.6% from 2018 to 2025. The space mining market is expected to grow from USD 0.65 billion in 2018 to USD 2.84 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 23.6%.
“Ongoing and impending space mining missions, increasing investments of private stakeholders in space mining companies, and rising number of government initiatives to frame regulations with respect to asteroid mining drive the space mining market growth,” says an ASDReports statement. “However, the high costs associated with asteroid mining may hinder the growth of the space mining market.”
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is targeted to launch in summer 2022 and travel to the asteroid using solar-electric (low-thrust) propulsion, arriving in 2026.
Artist’s concept of the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is thought to be a stripped planetary core. Image credit: SSL/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech
M type asteroids
The study explains that type M asteroids are expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the space mining market during the forecast period.
Type M asteroids are metallic asteroids and are made of rare metals, such as the platinum group metals. These asteroids dwell in the middle region of the main belt in between S-type and C-type asteroids and have albedos varying from 0.10 to 0.18. Albedo is a measure of the reflecting power of a nonluminous object. The more reflective, or shiny, the object is the more light it will reflect. Darker objects reflect little sunlight.
These asteroids account for nearly 8% of the known asteroids. Examples of M-type asteroids include 16 Psyche, 21 Lutetia, 22 Kalliope, and 55 Pandora, among others.
Type M asteroid would grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. “M-type asteroids can be mined, and mined materials can be used in construction activities in space. Precious metals can be mined and taken back to Earth. Hence, a few players are targeting M-type asteroids for exploration and mining,” the market research group adds.
Artist’s illustration of astronauts at an asteroid as well as other mining and transportation vehicles operating in space.
Credit: TransAstra Corporation & Anthony Longman
Legal framework
Luxembourg is the first European country to have a legal framework for the extraction of space-based resources. Luxembourg, under the SpaceResources.lu initiative, provides legal, regulatory, and business environment, enabling private investors and companies to explore and use space resources.
Also, the collaboration of Government of Luxembourg with various private players (such as Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources) to explore and mine asteroids is expected to provide opportunities for the players in the space mining market. “Therefore, Europe is likely to exhibit the highest CAGR in the space mining market during the forecast period.”
Major players
Major players and space agencies in the space mining market include Deep Space Industries (US); Planetary Resources (US); Moon Express (US); ispace (Japan); Asteroid Mining Corporation (UK); Shackleton Energy Company (SEC, US); Kleos Space (Luxembourg); TransAstra (US); OffWorld (US); SpaceFab.US (US); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, US); European Space Agency (ESA, France); Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Japan); China National Space Administration (CNSA, China); and Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS, Russia).
Honey Bee Robotic asteroid capture for ISRU resource return, as viewed in this artist’s conception.
Credit: TransAstra Corporation
Competitive landscape
The report covers qualitative information on different types of commodity resources available in space, categorization of asteroids based on their distance from earth, applications of space mining, and space and on-Earth utilization of space-mined materials.
Major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges pertaining to the space mining market are detailed in the report.
An in depth competitive landscape of the key players (along with their revenues) in the market is included in the report.
In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and sub-segments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with people holding key positions across regions.
For more information on this 114-page report — Space Mining Market – Global Forecast to 2025, go to:
https://www.asdreports.com/market-research-report-469908/space-mining-market-global-forecast
Posted in Space News
