Abstract
This chapter explores the potential benefits of extending the world’s economic sphere from Earth deeper into space. The sustainability of exploration and the further development of the space economy are dependent on the creation of commercial markets based on the utilization of space resources. This chapter first describes the fundamental value chain for space resources and its potential for creating new added value in the future. It then explores how the rich history and experience of using resources on Earth can help the birth of a new space resources industry, with examples of innovative commercial space companies that are laying the foundation for a strong future industrial sector in space. The chapter concludes with a review of the important role of governments in nurturing the new space resources industry by describing the work being conducted in Luxembourg to build a sustainable space ecosystem and progress towards the long-term vision of a thriving space resources industry.
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Notes
- 1.
This study was executed by a consortium of companies from Luxembourg, France, Belgium and the UK. It was funded by the Government of Luxembourg through the Luxembourg National Space programme (LuxIMPULSE) implemented by the European Space Agency.
- 2.
Joint Ore Reserves Committee.
- 3.
Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards.
- 4.
Petroleum Resources Management System.
References
Major Takeaways of the Mining Space Summit 2018. 2018. https://space-agency.public.lu/dam-assets/publications/2018/MINING-SPACE-SUMMIT-2018-Whitepaper.pdf.
Major Takeaways of the Mining Space Summit 2019. 2019. https://space-agency.public.lu/dam-assets/publications/2020/MINING-SPACE-SUMMIT-2019-Paper.pdf.
Opportunities for Space Resources Utilization: Future Markets & Value Chains. 2018. https://space-agency.public.lu/dam-assets/publications/2018/Study-Summary-of-the-Space-Resources-Value-Chain-Study.pdf.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the European Space Agency, as well as the consortium behind the value chain study for their important work.
We are grateful to the participants at the Mining Space Summits for making them such worthwhile events and for their valuable insights and feedback.
We extend our thanks to Jochen Harms from Blue Horizon, Julien-Alexandre Lamamy and Carlos Espejel from ispace Europe, Joost van Oorschot from Maana Electric and Jim Keravala from OffWorld for providing us with input on their current and future plans.
And last but not least, we thank our colleagues at LSA for their input to various sections of this chapter and their daily devotion to making the SpaceResources.lu vision come true.
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Link, M., Martin, G., Mousel, J. (2023). The Economics of Space Resources: Future Markets and Value Chains. In: Badescu, V., Zacny, K., Bar-Cohen, Y. (eds) Handbook of Space Resources. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97913-3_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97913-3_31
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