In the Race for Space Metals, Companies Hope to Cash In
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Angel Abbud-Madrid contributes to this article about how mining asteroids could, in theory, reduce the burden on Earth’s resources. Potential applications of space-mined material abound: Asteroids contain metals like platinum and cobalt, which are used in electronics and electric vehicle batteries, respectively. Although there’s plenty of these materials on Earth, they can be more concentrated on asteroids than mountainsides, making them easier to scrape out. May 8, 2024.