Trials and Tribulations of Asteroid Mining

Abstract

Lunar industrialisation will require access to in situ material resources. The lunar surface itself provides a wide range of resources that may be extracted and utilised in different ways. Our demandite concept defines a minimal material set required to perform different functions that are required of a generic spacecraft and, most crucially, the mechatronic components required for robotic machines of production. This demandite set requires access to materials that are scarce on the Moon but abundant in asteroids. We examine the different assemblages of asteroids from the near-Earth object population. By installing a suite of coilguns onto a C-type or M-type asteroid with their supporting solar power systems, we can manoeuvre it into a low lunar orbit at 100 km altitude and then manoeuvre it to land on the lunar surface. To ensure the integrity of the asteroid as an orebody, it must be delivered through a soft-landing otherwise the orebody would mix diffusely with lunar ejecta material.