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damnedspot t1_j1xh3el wrote

Yes. Robotic mining is the way forward, whether it's earthbound or otherwise. The first company to make asteroid mining commercially viable will rewrite the planet's economies.

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Aggromemnon t1_j1xk6x2 wrote

A profitable mining operation would encourage growth in near-Earth space. This in turn opens pathways to move many environmentally costly industrial processes off earth to the moon and orbital stations. Low and 0 gravity fabrication will allow for new industrial processes and spur growth in automation.

Then orbiting space debris will get completely out of hand and collapse the whole thing because the second and third generation of CEO's cut corners trying to grow profits without actually doing any work. The whole planet will be thrust into chaos as supplies of tech devices dry up and they suddenly have to deal with the real world.

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Kryosite t1_j1yevm9 wrote

Adequate regulation of orbital pollution could solve that, even if it means dumping all our space borne trash into the sun or something

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Aggromemnon t1_j25d6ez wrote

Oh, sure, there are ways to avoid it. I just have little faith in space profiteers to employ solutions that impact their margin until the problem is out of hand.

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hgs25 t1_j1zqkwb wrote

Then they pull a Debeers (diamond industry) and do what we do for oil. Just hoard the material to control the price.

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EscapeVelocity83 t1_j21eu0a wrote

Can they do it now please so I can make 10mil a year by my self thanks I promise to spend it at the space hotel

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damnedspot t1_j21s5th wrote

The DeBeers comment has made me wonder whether an asteroid connection might make the disparity worse rather than better. Hopefully more than one concern accesses any rare material so there’s an impetus to challenge prices and marketplaces. If not, economic dystopia could be much closer than we expect…

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