How we talk about outer space shapes the futures we imagine and build. Indigenous perspectives offer a better way forward.
Articles on Space mining
Displaying 1 - 20 of 21 articles
As humanity moves closer to extracting and using space resources, the need for a cohesive and responsible global governance system has never been greater.
Imagine you’ve worked 12 hours in hot and dirty conditions. Some of your co-workers have collapsed or been injured. You wish you could just get another job. But you can’t. You’re stuck in space.
The latest ‘space race’ between the US and China aims to get people back on the Moon. But the path to get there doesn’t have to be rife with conflict.
Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. But this research casts doubt on many of them.
There’s a lot of technological progress required before off-Earth mining operations can be considered feasible.
Several current programs aim at sending humans back to the Moon. What would be the purpose, and what are the real prospects?
Space mining might be closer than you think. But legal issues about the ownership of space resources must be urgently addressed to avoid space wars over natural resources.
Some nations are concerned the Artemis Accords represent a US power grab.
When it comes to managing the tussle for resources on the Moon, we might take lessons from New Zealand environmental law and TikTok ‘witches’.
Governments and corporations must get serious about the legal, technical, economic, social and ethical implications of a potential space-based resource economy.
The opportunities in space are limitless. But without a sustainable approach to the space industry, our ability to exploit them won’t be.
Tourism, mining and new settlements are possibilities for our Moon. But what rules and regulations should govern our behavior there?
This year the Apollo 11 mission turns 50 - but what does the future hold for the Moon? The ephemeral shadows cast by human artefacts may soon be joined by more permanent scars of lunar mining.
No country can lay claim to sovereignty over a planet, moon or rocky body. But in the absence of clear laws regulating mining in space, it’s a case of first in, best dressed for resource extraction.
Why carry building materials from Earth into space, when we can build structures by 3D printing using materials found out there?
Space mining could generate a massive resources boom. Here’s a way to make sure the benefits of that boom reach everyone on the planet.
We’re on the cusp of being able to consistently launch and land rockets, greatly reducing the cost of space travel. But how long before there’s a Millennium Falcon in every garage?
No one nation should be allowed to go it alone and develop a mining industry in space. It needs an international effort and Australia, with a long history in mining, can play its part.
If we’re going to mine asteroids, then we need an international treaty to prevent it becoming a wild west. Thankfully we can look to Antarctica to see how such a treaty might work.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University
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Associate Professor of Health Promotion, Swinburne University of Technology
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Emeritus Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University
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Senior Research Associate, The University of Melbourne
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW
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Professor, Adelaide University
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Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary
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Lecturer, Adelaide University
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Andrew Dempster is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer in Critical and Green Technology Metals, University of Exeter
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Casual academic, UNSW
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Off Earth Mining, Future Mining, Mining Systems, UNSW
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Professeur de physique et science de la soutenabilité, Université Paris Cité
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Associate Fellow, Université Paris Cité