The idea is to mitigate global warming by moving as much resource collection, refining, manufacturing, and energy production into space, asap. This is not hyper future tech. I speak on this personally, because it was mine and my professor's area of focus in electromagnetics and electrodynamics in 1997. Of course, it takes time, money, and will to implement, which the Chinese are now doing. These first steps are not the final product, but they are necessary to get there, and I'm glad someone is finally doing it. You're right about the fact that we've waited far too long already.