Latest news with #moonmining
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Say There's Over a Trillion Dollars of Platinum Waiting to Be Extracted From the Moon's Craters
Researchers say there could be over $1 trillion worth of platinum lurking under the surface of the Moon — a major lunar bounty waiting to be mined. As detailed in a paper published in the journal Planetary and Space Science, independent researcher Jayanth Chennamangalam and his team determined that out of around 1.3 million craters lining the Moon's surface with diameters greater than 0.6 miles across, almost 6,500 were created by asteroids that contain commercial quantities of platinum, among other valuable ores like palladium or iridium. To the researchers, the draw isn't just the promise of immense wealth; the proceeds of mining these ores could be used to explore space. "Today, astronomy is done to satiate our curiosity," Chennamangalam told New Scientist, a surprisingly cynical statement that's bound to raise eyebrows among researchers. "It has very few practical applications and is mostly paid for by taxpayer money, meaning that research funding is at the mercy of governmental policy." "If we can monetise space resources — be it on the Moon or on asteroids — private enterprises will invest in the exploration of the solar system," he added. Chennamangalam, who holds a PhD in astrophysics and was a postdoc at the University of Oxford, found that there could be a "lot more craters on the moon with ore-bearing asteroidal remnants than there are accessible ore-bearing asteroids." Mining these craters would be significantly simpler than traveling to distant asteroids, which most of the time don't have enough gravity for mining operations. But whether plundering the Moon for profit would even be legal remains a far murkier question. As New Scientist points out, the Outer Space Treaty, which was signed in 1967, sets strict rules for space resource mining, stopping any nation from claiming or occupying the "Moon and other celestial bodies." However, experts say those rules could still allow for governments to find loopholes and still claim licensing rights to extract resources. In an effort to ratify international rules, the US established the Artemis Accords, a non-binding framework. However, neither China nor Russia has signed it, leaving its authority murky. In short, the race to the surface of the Moon is on — a tight competition that could be decided between the US and China by the end of this decade, especially if a fortune in precious metals is at play. More on the Moon: Elon Boasts of Huge Starship Improvements Immediately Before It Blows Up Spectacularly
Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Times
Moon could be a $1 trillion treasure trove of precious metals
The moon has inspired myth-makers, stargazers and astronauts. In the future, it may tempt miners. Scientists believe that billions of years of asteroid impacts have seeded the lunar surface with a fortune hiding in plain sight: precious metals potentially worth $1 trillion. The estimate — described by the team behind it as 'conservative' — stems from a study that surveyed the moon's pockmarked terrain and calculated how many of its craters were likely to have been formed by asteroids rich in platinum group metals (PGMs): ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum itself. • 13 space missions to watch in 2025 Forged during the cataclysmic collisions of neutron stars, these elements are now indispensable to catalytic converters, electronics and the green economy. 'On cosmic timescales, over several generations of stellar birth and death, they get mixed with other elements and end up in planet-forming discs and then within planets and asteroids,' said Jayanth Vyasanakere, the study's lead author. 'Metallic asteroids have a significant fraction of iron, and the PGMs are found bound to it. When these asteroids strike a body such as the moon, depending on the impact velocity some of it may survive.' Unlike Earth, the moon has no atmosphere to incinerate incoming space rocks, and no plate tectonics to bury their remnants deep underground. So much of what hits the surface should, in theory, remain there. Vyasanakere and his co-authors estimate the moon may contain up to 30 million kilograms of PGMs. The true figure will depend on the size, speed and angle of asteroid impacts, and how much of their precious cargo survived the blast. But if the new study is even remotely accurate the moon would be by far the richest known reserve of PGMs beyond Earth. For context, terrestrial annual production is about 600 tonnes (600,000kg). How concentrated the lunar deposits would be is uncertain, but Vyasanakere notes that PGMs in their parent asteroids are thought to be present at concentrations of 10 to 100 parts per million — on a par with, or better than, many terrestrial mines. However, mining on the moon would present formidable technical hurdles. With only a sixth of Earth's gravity, traditional extraction techniques that rely on weight, pressure or fluid dynamics would be difficult to apply. There is also no liquid water — a particular challenge, since most terrestrial PGM refining methods are water-intensive. Engineers would need to radically rethink how to extract and process ore in a dry vacuum. Yet our satellite offers logistical advantages that asteroids — another potential source of mineral wealth — cannot. It is close enough for near real-time remote operation of machinery. Robots could be directed from Earth with just a few seconds' communications delay, avoiding the need for fully autonomous systems, which would probably be essential for asteroid mining. And unlike individual asteroids, which must be tracked and intercepted by spacecraft, the moon is a stationary target. Its entire surface can be mapped from orbit. In large part, it already has been. 'The lack of gravity also makes it impossible for a spacecraft to 'land' on an asteroid,' Vyasanakere said. 'And many asteroids are 'rubble piles' — their surface is not stable.' So should investors brace for a collapse in the price of platinum? 'Prices could fall if, say, 100 tonnes of PGMs are brought back from the moon in one go,' Vyasanakere said. 'But this is very unlikely. The best-case scenario — at least in the early days of lunar mining — is that someone might be able to bring back a few tonnes per year, which shouldn't affect prices much.' The study, whose authors include researchers from the the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the University of Birmingham, has been published in the journal Planetary and Space Science.
Fast Company
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
What the law says about buying property or protecting sites on the Moon
April 2025 was a busy month for space. Pop icon Katy Perry joined five other civilian women on a quick jaunt to the edge of space, making headlines. Meanwhile, another group of people at the United Nations was contemplating a critical issue for the future of space exploration: the discovery, extraction and utilization of natural resources on the Moon. At the end of April, a dedicated Working Group of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space released a draft set of recommended principles for space resource activities. Essentially, these are rules to govern mining on the Moon, asteroids and elsewhere in space for elements that are rare here on Earth. As a space lawyer and co-founder of For All Moonkind, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting human heritage in outer space, I know that the Moon could be the proving ground for humanity's evolution into a species that lives and thrives on more than one planet. However, this new frontier raises complex legal questions. Space, legally Outer space—including the Moon—from a legal perspective, is a unique domain without direct terrestrial equivalent. It is not, like the high seas, the ' common heritage of humankind,' nor is it an area, like Antarctica, where commercial mining is prohibited. Instead, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty —signed by more than 115 nations, including China, Russia and the United States— establishes that the exploration and use of space are the 'province of all humankind.' That means no country may claim territory in outer space, and all have the right to access all areas of the Moon and other celestial bodies freely. The fact that, pursuant to Article II of the treaty, a country cannot claim territory in outer space, known as the nonappropriation principle, suggests to some that property ownership in space is forbidden. Can this be true? If your grandchildren move to Mars, will they never own a home? How can a company protect its investment in a lunar mine if it must be freely accessible by all? What happens, as it inevitably will, when two rovers race to a particular area on the lunar surface known to host valuable water ice? Does the winner take all? As it turns out, the Outer Space Treaty does offer some wiggle room. Article IX requires countries to show 'due regard' for the corresponding interests of others. It is a legally vague standard, although the Permanent Court of Arbitration has suggested that due regard means simply paying attention to what's reasonable under the circumstances. First mover advantage—it's a race The treaty's broad language encourages a race to the Moon. The first entity to any spot will have a unilateral opportunity to determine what's legally 'reasonable.' For example, creating an overly large buffer zone around equipment might be justified to mitigate potential damage from lunar dust. On top of that, Article XII of the Outer Space Treaty assumes that there will be installations, like bases or mining operations, on the Moon. Contrary to the free access principle, the treaty suggests that access to these may be blocked unless the owner grants permission to enter. Both of these paths within the treaty would allow the first person to make it to their desired spot on the Moon to keep others out. The U.N. principles in their current form don't address these loopholes. The draft U.N. principles released in April mirror, and are confined by, the language of the Outer Space Treaty. This tension between free access and the need to protect—most easily by forbidding access—remains unresolved. And the clock is ticking. The Moon's vulnerable legacy The U.S. Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon by 2028, China has plans for human return by 2030, and in the intervening years, more than 100 robotic missions are planned by countries and private industry alike. For the most part, these missions are all headed to the same sweet spot: the lunar south pole. Here, peaks of eternal light and deep craters containing water ice promise the best mining, science and research opportunities. In this excitement, it's easy to forget that humans already have a deep history of lunar exploration. Scattered on the lunar surface are artifacts displaying humanity's technological progress. After centuries of gazing at our closest celestial neighbor with fascination, in 1959 the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 2, became the first human-made object to impact another celestial body. Ten years later, two humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first ever to set foot upon another celestial body. More recently, in 2019, China's Chang'e 4 achieved the first soft landing on the Moon's far side. And in 2023, India's Chandrayaan-3 became the first to land successfully near the lunar south pole. These sites memorialize humanity's baby steps off our home planet and easily meet the United Nations definition of terrestrial heritage, as they are so 'exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.' The international community works to protect such sites on Earth, but those protection protocols do not extend to outer space. The more than 115 other sites on the Moon that bear evidence of human activity are frozen in time without degradation from weather, animal or human activity. But this could change. A single errant spacecraft or rover could kick up abrasive lunar dust, erasing bootprints or damaging artifacts. Protection and the Outer Space Treaty In 2011, NASA recommended establishing buffer, or safety zones, of up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) to protect certain sites with U.S. artifacts. Because it understood that outright exclusion violates the Outer Space Treaty, NASA issued these recommendations as voluntary guidelines. Nevertheless, the safety zone concept, essentially managing access to and activities around specific areas, could be a practical tool for protecting heritage sites. They could act as a starting point to find a balance between protection and access. One hundred and ninety-six nations have agreed, through the 1972 World Heritage Convention, on the importance of recognizing and protecting cultural heritage of universal value found here on Earth. Building on this agreement, the international community could require specific access protocols—such as a permitting process, activity restrictions, shared access rules, monitoring and other controls—for heritage sites on the Moon. If accepted, these protective measures for heritage sites could also work as a template for scientific and operational sites. This would create a consistent framework that avoids the perception of claiming territory. At this time, the draft U.N. principles released in April 2025 do not directly address the opposing concepts of access and protection. Instead, they defer to Article I of the Outer Space Treaty and reaffirm that everyone has free access to all areas of the Moon and other celestial bodies.
Geek Wire
07-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Interlune announces deals for moon mining equipment — and for selling lunar helium-3
An artist's conception shows a rocket with a capsule containing helium-3 heading back to Earth from the moon's surface. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune provided a triple-barreled update today on its progress toward mining helium-3 on the moon and returning that resource to Earth. The startup joined Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered in Iowa, to unveil a full-scale prototype of an excavator that's designed to ingest 100 metric tons of moon dirt in an hour. After the helium-3 is extracted, the machine would drop the rest of the dirt back onto the lunar surface in a continuous motion. Also today, Interlune announced separate agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy and Maybell Quantum Industries to start supplying lunar helium-3 by 2029. Helium-3 is an isotope that's much rarer than the helium-4 that you typically find in lighter-than-air balloons. Helium-3 has a wide range of high-tech applications in fields that include quantum computing, fusion power, medical imaging and weapons detection for national security purposes. The substance is hard to find on Earth, but it's more abundant on the moon due to bombardment by solar-wind particles. Interlune aims to take advantage of the potential market by extracting lunar helium-3 and shipping it back to Earth. The idea isn't exactly new; in fact, helium-3 mining was a key plot point in 'Moon,' a 2009 sci-fi movie. But Interlune is the first venture to try commercializing such an operation. 'The high-rate excavation needed to harvest helium-3 from the moon in large quantities has never been attempted before, let alone with high efficiency,' Gary Lai, Interlune co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a news release. Lai served as chief architect for the New Shepard suborbital rocket ship built by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture, and went to space on New Shepard in 2022. That's not the only connection to Blue Origin: Interlune co-founder and CEO Rob Meyerson served as Blue Origin's president from 2003 to 2018. Meyerson said Vermeer would be a key partner in the development of Interlune's harvesting system. 'When you're operating equipment on the moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level,' he said. 'Vermeer has a legacy of innovation and excellence that started more than 75 years ago, which makes them the ideal partner for Interlune.' Interlune and Vermeer tested a subscale version of the excavator last summer, setting the stage for the full-scale prototype unveiled today. Interlune said that the excavator is the first product resulting from the partnership, and that the companies will continue to explore other technologies for use in space and on Earth. For example, Interlune is working on methods for sorting, extracting and separating helium-3 from the dirt after it's excavated. Vermeer CEO Jason Andringa will join Interlune's advisory board to deepen the partnership. 'Combining my personal passion for aeronautics and astronautics with Vermeer equipment that bears my grandfather's name, to carefully and responsibly harvest resources to make our world a better place, is something I'm incredibly proud of,' Andringa said. Interlune and Vermeer worked together to test a full-scale prototype of an excavator with auxiliary components. The final version of the excavator hardware will be integrated into a machine known as the Interlune Harvester. (Interlune / Vermeer Photo) An artist's conception shows the Interlune Harvester, which would incorporate excavation hardware that's currently being developed in partnership with Vermeer. (Interlune Illustration) Interlune said Maybell Quantum would be the startup's first commercial customer. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Interlune would provide thousands of liters of helium-3 for yearly delivery between 2029 and 2035. The helium-3 would be used in Maybell's dilution refrigerators, which cool quantum computing devices to near absolute zero. 'Helium-3 will fuel a fundamental transformation in computing,' Corban Tillemann-Dick, founder and CEO of Maybell Quantum, said in a news release. 'In the coming years, we'll go from a few hundred quantum computers worldwide to thousands, then tens of thousands, and they all need to get cold. To get cold, they need dilution refrigeration running on helium-3.' Interlune also said it planned to deliver three liters of lunar helium-3 to the U.S. Department of Energy by April 2029. Under the terms of that agreement, the helium-3 would be purchased 'at approximately today's commercial market price,' the company said in a news release. Interlune has pegged the commercial price of helium-3 at $20 million per kilogram. The price per liter would be significantly lower, however. Last year, a market report from the Edelgas Group said helium-3 was trading at around $2,500 per liter. The agreement with the Department of Energy marks the first purchase of a non-terrestrial natural resource under the terms of the DOE Isotope Program, Interlune said. 'With this agreement, the DOE IP is signaling to companies and investors that it supports novel approaches to securing critical materials for use on Earth, including space resources,' Meyerson said. Last year, Interlune received a grant from the DOE Isotope Program to study a low-temperature method for separating helium-3 from domestic helium supplies, in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The company plans to leverage findings from that project to support its plans for lunar helium-3 extraction. Interlune, which was founded in 2020, has also received grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation to work on technologies for processing lunar soil. Last year, the company said it raised $18 million in seed funding. And last month, it won a grant of up to $4.84 million from the Texas Space Commission to open a center focusing on the processing of simulated moon dirt. In a video posted to LinkedIn, Nina Hooper, Interlune's director of business development, laid out the company's roadmap for testing its hardware on the moon. The plan calls for executing three missions over the next five years. 'Our first mission, Crescent Moon, is coming up at the end of this year, 2025,' Hooper said. 'We'll be sending a hyperspectral camera as a rideshare to the south pole with another lunar mission.' That mission would be followed by Prospect Moon. 'We'll be taking a lander to an area of our choosing where we believe the helium-3 concentration is highest,' Hooper said. 'We'll be taking an advanced suite of sensors and some technology demonstrations to validate the concentration of helium-3 and prove out our method of extracting it.' Hooper said the third mission, Harvest Moon, would be an end-to-end demonstration of the process for extracting helium-3 and sending it back to Earth. The timing for that mission may have some connection to plans for delivering helium-3 to the Department of Energy.
