What if there was a way to tap into a virtually limitless supply of rare earth metals that make up electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer electronics and various other tech that drive modern life? Or create a cosmic fueling station that could propel space exploration into uncharted territory? This is the promise of asteroid mining, a moonshot idea that seeks to extract metals, minerals, water and gases from space rocks hundreds of thousands of miles away.
What Is Asteroid Mining?
Asteroid mining is the extraction of metals, minerals and other resources from asteroids that could be sold on Earth or used to refuel spacecraft in orbit. No space agency or company has mined an asteroid yet, but several organizations are working on the technology.
Asteroids are packed with valuable metals that could help power everything from supercomputers to advanced cancer treatments. And unlike Earth-based mining, extracting these materials from space could reduce environmental damage and ease supply chain pressures. The frozen water vapor from asteroids could also be converted into rocket fuel, potentially extending our reach into deep space.
No one has actually mined an asteroid yet, but there are several startups racing to change that. As with any emerging technology, this field has seen its fair share of bold claims, stalled efforts and failures — but momentum is building, and a new space economy may finally be within reach.
What Is Asteroid Mining?
Asteroid mining is the process of extracting metals, minerals and other resources from asteroids. Of course, not all asteroids are created equal. While researchers don’t know the exact composition of every asteroid in space, they have categorized them into three types:
- C-type (carbonaceous): Making up about 75 percent of all known asteroids, these are rich in carbon and water but contain little to no usable metals.
- S-type (silicaceous): Accounting for about 17 percent of all known asteroids, these are composed mainly of silicate rocks, iron and nickel.
- M-type (metallic): The rarest type, these asteroids are largely made up of iron and nickel. They may also contain precious metals like platinum.
Some companies are focused on mining these metal-rich asteroids for resources like nickel, cobalt and platinum-group metals, which are essential for semiconductors, electric car batteries and renewable energy systems. Others are more focused on C-type asteroids for their water and volatile gases, which could be converted into rocket fuel, allowing spacecraft to venture further into the cosmos.
Although asteroid mining faces steep technical and financial hurdles, the potential payoff is massive. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson predicted in 2015 that the world’s first trillionaire will be the person that figures out how to mine asteroids and bring the materials back to Earth. One NASA researcher even estimated that the 173-mile-wide metallic asteroid named 16 Psyche could contain $10,000 quadrillion worth of material — though its exact composition remains unknown.
While no space agency or company has mined an asteroid as of 2025, the idea is not completely far-fetched. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought back more than four ounces of asteroid material in 2016. And in 2020, Japanese space agency JAXA brought back more than 5 grams of asteroid matter in its Hayabusa 2 mission.
Why Mine Asteroids?
Earth is full of mines — so why go all the way to outer space? As it turns out, there are several reasons why companies are setting their sites on the stars.
Access to Precious Metals
Some asteroids contain platinum group metals used in semiconductors, electric car batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, catalytic converters and medical devices. Asteroids also have other metals, like nickel and cobalt, that are also used in rechargeable batteries and fuel cells that power renewable energy technologies. The demand for these precious metals is only going to increase with the acceleration of green energy technology. The International Energy Agency predicts the value of copper, lithium, cobalt, lithium, graphite and rare earth metals would double if we were to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Less Dependence on Earth-Based Mining
Demand for critical metals is soaring, and our primary method for obtaining them — traditional mining here on Earth — takes a heavy toll on the planet, often releasing toxic chemicals and polluting waterways. In search of alternatives, some companies have turned to deep-sea mining, developing technologies that can excavate minerals from the ocean floor. But scientists warn this could devastate fragile marine ecosystems and countless species. By taking mining activity off-earth, asteroid mining startups offer a way to acquire precious metals without further harming Earth’s environment.
In-Situ Resource Utilization
Asteroid mining startups TransAstra and Karman+ aim to extract water, gases and other resources that could be used to refuel spacecraft or manufacture items needed in space. This approach — known as in-situ resource utilization — could lay the foundation for a self-sustaining space economy. By producing fuel and other essential materials in orbit, these companies hope to eventually supply satellites, rockets and space stations with the resources they need to travel farther and more affordably. In fact, according to Karman+, fuel produced in space could be up to 10 times cheaper than sourcing it on Earth, potentially transforming space travel forever.
History of Asteroid Mining
Once considered the stuff of science fiction, asteroid mining has been a topic of interest among researchers since the 1970s.
However, it wasn’t until 2012 that the first asteroid mining company, Planetary Resources, launched. Backed by Google co-founder Larry Page and filmmaker James Cameron, Planetary Resources sought to bring precious metals back to Earth and extract water that could be converted into propellant for rockets in space. It aimed to create a refueling station in space by 2020, but it ran into funding troubles and was acquired by blockchain company ConsenSys in 2018.
In 2013, another startup called Deep Space Industries launched with the goal of mining asteroids to refuel rockets for deep space exploration, as well as to manufacture other items needed to build satellites, spacecraft and commercial space stations. The company eventually pivoted to developing a water-based propulsion system before it was acquired in 2019 by Bradford Space.
While the first wave of asteroid companies were saddled with the expenses of satellite vehicles, a new class of companies like AstroForge, TransAstra and Karman+ can more affordably launch their technology into space through a launch service provider like SpaceX.
Asteroid Mining Companies
AstroForge, founded in 2022, plans to extract platinum-group metals. A small cube satellite will use a technique similar to laser ablation to remove materials, CEO Matt Gialich told Built In, and then the materials will be sorted using magnets. The materials will then be sent back to Earth with a shield and a parachute. The company aims to get its satellite to deep space for less than $10 million. In February 2025, the company’s Odin mission aimed to capture imagery of its target asteroid in deep space, but it lost contact with the satellite. In 2026, the company’s Vestri mission aims to land on the target asteroid and take measurements for future extraction, Gialich said.
TransAstra, founded in 2015, seeks to mine water and gases that could be used as low-cost rocket fuel in space. It plans to do this by collecting asteroids in a “capture bag.” Then through its “optical mining” process, it will use solar reflectors to redirect concentrated sunlight into the capture bags, which will heat up the material so waters and gases can be extracted. Through electrolysis, the water vapor can be turned into propellant. Finally, a solar-powered propulsion system will transport the materials to spacecraft in orbit, fueling deep space exploration.
Karman+, founded in 2022, also wants to harvest water from asteroids to fuel rockets in space. It plans to extract the water from regolith, a superficial layer of rock and dust found on asteroids. This water can be used directly to power spacecraft or decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, according to the company. Initially, it will be used to refuel space tugs that service existing satellites in geostationary orbit. The regolith extract could provide cheaper fuel for in-orbit satellites, or it could fuel rockets to fly further into deep space. Eventually, the company hopes to kickstart an in-space economy, including the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors in space.
Asteroid Mining Corporation, a U.K. company founded in 2016, has built a six-legged robot designed to grip the surface of an asteroid with its six legs. The robot, named Space Cargo And Reconnaissance - Explorer (SCAR-E), would then extract and refine materials on-site. Before going to space, though, the company plans to commercialize its robot through other applications, like inspecting the hulls of ships. In 2024, the company announced it had partnered with Tokyo-based ispace to test out SCAR-E’s capabilities on the moon.
Risks and Challenges of Asteroid Mining
Still, asteroid mining is far from a sure thing. Despite its promise, there are several reasons why this ambitious venture remains firmly in the experimental phase.
Financial Constraints
Generating a return on investment with asteroid mining can be difficult given its risk and high capital costs, so asteroid mining startups are trying to keep their costs as low as possible. AstroForge hopes to create mining technology that costs less than $10 million per mission, and Karman+ aims to keep the cost of each mission under $20 million. In contrast, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which collected four ounces of asteroid material from deep space, is estimated to have cost more than $1 billion.
“We’ve got to see if we can do what (SpaceX’s) Falcon 1 did for rockets in space,” said Gialich, the CEO of AstroForge. “Can we create a very low-cost vehicle to access deep space? That's the crux.”
As far as the revenue end of the equation, Gialich said AstroForge would bring “somewhere upwards of 1,500 kilograms” of material back. The sale price of these metals depends on the type — platinum and palladium are valued at more than $1,000 per troy ounce, while iridium and rhodium go for four or five times that, respectively. So, if AstroForge brought back 1,500 kg of high-concentration platinum group metal, it could net $60 billion to $250 billion.
If AstroForge brings back too much of a material that doesn’t have a strong market or demand, they risk destroying the market value. Gialich estimates they could create a 10 percent increase in the supply of platinum group metals without affecting market values.
“When we talk about a market that’s worth upwards of $30 billion a year, depending on what number you use, we can bring back $3 billion a year before we even affect the supply and demand curves,” Gialich said. “That's a really good place to start.”
Environmental Impact
While asteroid mining could lessen our reliance on Earth-based extraction, it’s not without environmental concerns of its own. A 2023 study found that the environmental impact of space mining is relatively small compared to conventional mining, but rocket launches still emit black carbon, which harms the ozone layer. There’s also the risk of stirring up dust or breaking asteroids into fragments during the mining process, potentially creating hazardous space debris. If enough debris accumulates, it could trigger a chain reaction of collisions that would make space travel far more dangerous.
Legal Ambiguity
Asteroid mining operates in a gray area of international space law, raising questions about private ownership that were not anticipated in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The treaty prohibits nations from claiming sovereignty over the moon or other celestial bodies, but it does not explicitly address whether private companies can extract their own resources from space.
The Artemis Accords, introduced in 2020, offers more clarity by affirming that the extraction of space resources “does not inherently constitute national appropriation,” but international law remains murky. In 2015, the United States passed legislation granting its citizens the right to own, transport, use and sell resources mined from asteroids. Luxembourg, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have enacted similar laws. However, because space is considered a shared international domain, these national policies could one day be challenged by other countries.
How Does Asteroid Mining Work?
Asteroid mining is a logistical puzzle that has yet to be cracked, but these are a few known factors to take into consideration.
Identification
Because the Asteroid Belt is so far away, asteroid mining companies would target one of the more than 35,000 “near-Earth asteroids” within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. Even those that are “near-Earth” can be difficult to identify, as they require high-powered telescopes to identify the type of asteroid. TransAstra, for example, has developed its own telescope and algorithm that can autonomously detect asteroids that would otherwise be invisible.
Transportation
Near-Earth asteroids are in deep space, so it would be impractical and expensive to haul heavy mining equipment or a human crew to space. For this reason, asteroid mining companies typically develop autonomous mining technologies, like robots.
Extraction
There’s hardly any gravity on an asteroid, which makes it difficult to extract and collect materials. Companies are experimenting with various extraction techniques, ranging from robotic drilling to capturing an asteroid in a bag and heating it up with concentrated sunlight.
Processing
When traveling in deep space, companies need to preserve their fuel. This may mean that they break down regolith into propellant on-site. If they’re bringing materials back to Earth, they need to be judicious with what they bring back. That’s why AstroForge plans to sort the raw asteroid material with magnets, ensuring it only brings back desirable metals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is asteroid mining even possible?
No space agency or private space agency has successfully mined an asteroid, but several companies like AstroForge, TransAstra and Karman+ are developing technologies that they believe will make asteroid mining possible within our lifetime.
Is NASA working on asteroid mining?
No, NASA is not working on asteroid mining, but it is conducting research, like its Psyche mission, that could aid asteroid mining efforts. Several private companies, like AstroForge, TransAstra and Karman+, are actively developing equipment for asteroid mining.
