asteroid mining future of space science. Types of asteroid, mining technology

1. TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON
ASTEROID MINING: FUTURE OF SPACE SCIENCE
P R E S E N T E D B Y
S A C H I N L A H A N U
B H U S A L
4 K M 1 4 A E 0 0 4
8 T H S E M
A E R O N A U T I C A L
E N G I N E E R I N G K I T,
M A N G A L O R E
U N D E R G U I D A N C E O F
R A M E S H N A I K
M . T E C H ( P H D )
H E A D O F T H E D E P T.
D E P T. O F
A E R O N A U T I C A L
E N G I N E E R I N G K I T,
M A N G A L O R E

2. OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Factor: Economic Demand
• Factor: Supply (Asteroid
Composition)
• Factor: Accessibility
(Astrodynamics)
• Factor: Mining Technology
• Net Present Value
• Example Case

3. GROWING INTEREST IN SPACE
MINING

4. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS
• Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are of
interest due to the relative ease of
reaching them.
• All NEAs have perihelion of less than
1.3 AUs.
Image Credit: William K Hartmann

5. KNOWN NEAS
Image Credit: NASA JPL

6. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Astrodynamics
and Propulsion
Asteroid
Composition
Mining
Technologies
Economic
Demand

7. ECONOMIC DEMAND
Image Credit: http://www.lubpedia.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/03/HD-Pictures-of-Earth-from-Space-
4.jpg
Space market:
Life support Construction
Propellant Refrigerant
Agriculture
Earth market:
Construction Electronics
Jewelry Fuel cells
Industrial

8. TYPES OF NEAS
S-type
Stony
(silicates,
sulfides, metals)
C-type
Carbonaceous
(water, volatiles)
M-type
Metallic
(metals)

10. MATERIALS FROM NEAS
Material Product
Raw silicate Ballast or shielding in space
Water and other volatiles Propellant in space
Nickel-Iron (Ni-Fe) metal Space structures
Construction on earth
Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) Catalyst for fuel cells and auto
catalyzers on earth
Jewelry on earth
Semiconductor metals Space solar arrays
Electronics on earth

11. NEA ORBIT TYPES
Image Credit: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html

12. ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLE
“Apollo-Type” Mission
Image Credit: Sonter’s Thesis

13. MINING TECHNOLOGY:
WATER EXTRACTION
Image Credits: Zacny et al. “Mobile In-situ Water Extractor
(MISWE) for Mars, Moon, and Asteroids In Situ Resource
Utilization.”
Water ice extraction from soils
currently being developed by
Honeybee called the Mars In-situ
Water Extractor (MISWE).

14. NET PRESENT VALUE
• The economic justification for an
asteroid mining operation is only the
case if the net present value (NPV) is
above zero.

15. SONTER’S NPV EQUATION
Corbit is the per kilogram Earth-to-orbit launch cost [$/kg]
Mmpe is mass of mining and processing equipment [kg]
f is the specific mass throughput ratio for the miner [kg mined / kg
equipment / day]
t is the mining period [days]
r is the percentage recovery of the valuable material from the ore
∆v is the velocity increment needed for the return trajectory [km/s]
ve is the propulsion system exhaust velocity [km/s]
i is the market interest rate
a is semi-major axis of transfer orbit [AU]
Mps is mass of power supply [kg]
Mic is mass of instrumentation and control [kg]
Cmanuf is the specific cost of manufacture of the miner etc. [$/kg]

16. GE AND SATAK NPV
𝑁𝑃𝑉 = 𝑃 − 𝐶 𝑀 − 𝐶𝐿 − 𝐶 𝑅 − 𝐶 𝐸, where
P = returned profit ($)
CM= Manufacturing cost ($)
CL= Launch cost ($) is equal to ms/c (mass of spacecraft) *
uLV (unit mass cost)
CR= Recurring cost ($) is equal to B (annual operational
expense) * T (total time)
CE= Reentry cost ($) is equal to Mreturned (mass returned) * fe
(fraction of material sold on Earth) * uRV (unit mass cost)
𝐶 𝑀 = 𝐶 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 + 𝐶𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡
𝐶 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 = 𝑀 𝑚𝑝𝑒 𝑢
𝑃 =
𝑉𝑠 1 − 𝑓𝑒 + 𝑉𝑒 𝑓𝑒 𝑀𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑
(1 + 𝑖) 𝑇
where,
Vs= Value in space ($)
Ve= Value on Earth ($)
fe= Fraction of material sold on Earth
𝐶𝑠/𝑐 = 106(225 +
𝑀 𝑚𝑝𝑒 𝑝 𝑓
8
)
𝑝 𝑓 =
𝑒−∆𝑣 𝑡/𝑣 𝑒 − 𝑠𝑓
1 − 𝑠𝑓
where,
u = unit cost of miner ($/kg)
pf = payload fraction
sf = structural fraction
∆𝑣 𝑡 = delta-v to asteroid
ve = exhaust velocity

17. EXAMPLE CASE:
1996 FG3
Preliminary baseline of MarcoPolo-R Mission
Element Value
Uncertainty
(1-sigma)
Units
e
.34983406668
87911
1.5696e-08
a
1.0541679265
97945
7.8388e-10 AU
q
.68538407386
32947
1.6408e-08 AU
i
1.9917406207
71903
1.4433e-06 deg
node
299.73096661
80939
4.8879e-05 deg
peri
23.981176173
36174
4.8216e-05 deg
M
167.67133206
88418
1.4068e-06 deg
tp
2456216.3721
68471335
(2012-Oct-
15.87216847)
1.4204e-06 JED
period
395.33305146
70441
1.08
4.4095e-07
1.207e-09
d
yr
n
.91062459529
7746
1.0157e-09 deg/d
Q
1.4229517793
32595
1.0581e-09 AU
Source: NASA JPL

18. TRAJECTORY TO 1996 FG3

19. NPV COMPARISONS
• Both mining time and total time for
is optimized for maximum returns.
• Selling water at $200.00
per liter (kg) yields a NPV
of $763,370,000.

20. CONCLUSION
THE NEXT STEPS
1. Asteroid Composition. Create database of NEAs
of interest for resource extraction with their
orbits and compositions.
2. Space Mining. Develop potential mining
technologies for modified use in space for
resources other than water.
3. Astrodynamics. Design optimal trajectories and
an in-depth study of various propulsion methods.
4. Space Economics. Identify supply and demand
curve and formulate a more rigorous discount
rate.

21. REFERENCE
1. www.Planetoryresourses.com
2. www.Deepspaceindustry.com
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exploration”, Canadian Mining Journal May 1979 p44-47, 52.
4. O’Leary, Brian et al. (1979) Space Resources and Space Settlements, NASA SP-428,
173-189.
5. Gertsch, R.E. et al. (1997) Near Earth Objects, Annals NY Acad Sci, 822, 468-
510. Gertsch, R.E. et al. (1997) Near Earth Objects, Annals NY Acad Sci, 822,
511537.
6. Internat’l Space Univ (1990) International Asteroid Mission Final Report, Toronto.
7. Thomson, W T, (1986), Introduction to Space Dynamics, Dover, NY, 1986.
8. Economics Of Asteroid Mining by GE and SATAK
9. Reichhardt I (1994), “Congress directs NASA to plan an Asteroid hunt”, Nature 370 11
August 1994 p 136-139.
10. Ostro S B et al. (1991), “Asteroid 1986 DA: Radar Evidence for a Metallic
Composition”, Science 252 June 7 1991.
11. The Technical and Economic Feasibility of Mining the Near-Earth Asteroids by Mark
J Sonter, B.Sc., M.App.Sc.
12. Weidenschilling S J (1994), “Origin of Cometary Nuclei as ‘Rubble Piles”, Nature 368
21 April 1994 pp721-728.
13. Vilas, F (1994), A Cheaper, Better, Faster Way to Detect Water of Hydration on Solar
System Bodies, Icarus 111, pp456-467, 1994.