No more need to budgets if you can mine asteroids, according to Goldman Sachs. Photo / 123RF
No more need to budgets if you can mine asteroids, according to Goldman Sachs. Photo / 123RF
Have you ever wanted to become the world's first trillionaire, but have been uncertain of the best way to secure your finical freedom?
According to leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm Goldman Sachs, all you need to do is start mining asteroids.
The company believes the first people to create the technology for mining asteroids will be rewarded with riches unlike anything ever seen.
"While the psychological barrier to mining asteroids is high, the actual financial and technological barriers are far lower," a Goldman Sachs report explained.
"Prospecting probes can likely be built for tens of millions of dollars each and Caltech (California Institute of Technology) has suggested an asteroid-grabbing spacecraft could cost A$2.6 billion ($3.6b)."
While it once would have sounded like an unrealistic dream, there are already a number of private companies hoping to cash in on the asteroid mining boom.
Additionally, the tiny European country of Luxembourg also hopes to enlist the help of its several communication satellite companies to become a cosmic mining hub.
Part of the Luxembourg's plan is a Space Resources Initiative that will provide A$223m of its national space budget in early-stage funding and grants to companies involved in the field of space mining.
Asteroids contain a wide range of resources to support our long-term prosperity on Earth, and movement into space and the solar system. Photo / News Corp Australia
Two of the leading companies in the sector — Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources — have already been working with the Luxembourg government for a number of years.
Deep Space Industries received an undisclosed amount of research and development funding, while Planetary Resources signed a deal for a A$28m investment in exchange for undisclosed equity in the company.
"Our goal is to put into place an overall framework for the exploration and commercial use of resources from 'celestial bodies' such as asteroids, or from the moon," said Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's deputy prime minister and minister of the economy, reported RT.
Professor Andrew Dempster from the University of New South Wales' Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research agreed it won't be long before galactic prospectors are populating the cosmos.
"It's not that far down the road. The market is already emerging," he told news.com.au.
"It's not unfeasible that the first transaction could take place within the next decade."
According to Prof Dempster, water will be the main thing mined from asteroids.
"The main reason people are interested in water as the initial thing to mine is that you can separate it into hydrogen and oxygen and use it for rocket fuel," Prof Dempster said.
"We're talking about an economy in space, so if it costs you A$10,000 a kilogram to launch something, if you can produce a litre of water in space for less than A$10,000 a kilogram then you're ahead."
