Asteroid Mining:
The First Trillionaire
There is a rock floating between Mars and Jupiter worth $10 Quintillion. Enough to give every person on Earth $100 billion. The race to catch it is on.
Target: 16 Psyche
Most asteroids are rock or ice. 16 Psyche is different. It is the exposed metal core of a dead protoplanet. It is made of pure Iron, Nickel, and Gold.
- Value: $10,000,000,000,000,000,000That's more than the entire global economy ($100 Trillion) combined.
- Status: ArrivedNASA's probe launched in 2023 and is currently orbiting and mapping the surface.
Why Leave Earth?
We aren't just mining asteroids for profit. We are mining them because Earth is empty. To build a green energy future, we need more metal than we have access to.
*Estimated accessible reserves at current consumption rates (USGS Data).
Who Owns Space?
The Outer Space Treaty (1967) says no nation can claim sovereignty over a celestial body.
But the Artemis Accords (2020) introduced "Safety Zones". It effectively says: "You can't buy the Moon, but if you set up a mining camp, you own the resources you extract."
The "Gold Rush" Trigger
In 2015, the US passed the CSLCA (Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act), granting US citizens the right to own asteroid resources. Luxembourg followed suit.
Why Now? The "Starship" Effect
Mining in space was impossible because getting there was too expensive. One rocket changed everything.
*Estimated launch cost to Low Earth Orbit at scale.
Don't Bring It Back
The smartest plan isn't to bring the gold back to Earth (crashing the market). It's to use it up there.
Orbital Construction
Build massive space stations and ships using the raw iron and nickel, without needing to launch materials from Earth's gravity well.
Fuel Depots
Ice asteroids can be split into Hydrogen and Oxygen—rocket fuel. These become "Gas Stations" for missions to Mars and beyond.
The Gold Rush is Vertical
Companies like AstroForge and TransAstra are already testing mining technology in orbit.
Read: Powering the Future