A meeting of the mines

Here Down Under, we're about to hold a forum on off-Earth mining . My boss has gotten some great publicity for the forum.

Off-Earth mining is the very epitome of New Space. It is far more likely to be conducted by robots than by human astronauts. It is far more likely to be conducted by private concerns than by governments. It will require extensive cooperation to get all of the technology, financing and facilities to make it happen.

As some have suggested, off-Earth mining might not make sense if you're going to bring the products back to Earth. Diamonds? They're artificially inflated anyway. Platinum? What for? Helium-3? Do we really have a way to use it economically even if there was an unlimited supply?

On the other hand, off-Earth mining is the very best approach for building large structures that DON'T come back to Earth. If you need structural materials for large geosynchronous platforms, or perhaps solar power stations--bringing the structural materials from the Moon or asteroids will avoid the huge costs of launching them from Earth. At some rate of consumption, the equation favors off-Earth sources.

The technologies for off-Earth mining will be synergistic with robotic on-orbit servicing, and robotic assembly of large objects on orbit. They will also benefit from the work now going on to automate mining operations on Earth.

This is an exciting field for new engineers to enter.