Two companies in the U.S. have pledged to launch a series of spacecraft and exploratory satellites to investigate the possibility of mining natural resources from asteroids – as early as 2016.
One of the companies, Deep Space Industries, plans to begin operations by servicing ‘in-space markets’ first, where its claimed fuel and materials shipped up from Earth are exceedingly costly. What these markets are remains a mystery, but it’s sure to involve a McDonalds franchise.
The company claims they will build a MicroGravity Foundry that “will be able to transform asteroid ore into complex metal parts with a simple 3D printing process.”
The company asserts “Along with water, air and propellant, there are asteroids with more gold and platinum in them than the human race has used in its entire history.”
No word yet on whether they’ll be employing a FIFO workforce.
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