Asteroid Mining and Capitalism in Space
Asteroid mining is the exploitation of raw materials from asteroids and bringing these resources back to Earth. With an exponentially rising global population, precious resources are quickly becoming depleted. Luckily, asteroids contain many materials that we need and so mining them could set us on the path to a sustainable future. There are, however, some important political implications involved with asteroid mining, such as whether it will be subject to the forces of capitalism, and what effects — either negative or positive — will result from the privatisation of these celestial bodies. This is a form of ‘space capitalism’ that deserves critical analysis.
Originally published at https://www.samwoolfe.com on March 26, 2020.
