We are at a cusp in our emergence as a space‐faring race. Development of space resources offers unparalleled economic opportunities. Entrepreneurs with fortunes from the computer and internet revolutions are heavily investing in space. Their goal: to make space accessible to civilians at affordable prices, and build their next fortunes off‐planet. The Ansari X‐Prize showed that economic incentives can augment the pace and efficiency of this venture. Lunar and Martian missions are being touted as the top priorities by the US and other nations. However, serious and profitable expansion into space is best achieved by the establishment of an L1 base, its economic lifeblood based on processing asteroidal materials to provide the staples of all human space enterprise: oxygen, water, fuel and shielding. This paper outlines the components of an “L1‐prize” modeled on the Ansari X‐prize competition that led to the first private manned flight into space by Scaled Composites. The economic costs, crucial components and profit potential of a primary L1 base with asteroid mining technology intimately tied to it are detailed. The technical and economic benefits of the L1 location are contrasted to alternatives. The likely revenue sources are estimated, including contracting nations and industries; and orbital, lunar and Martian interplanetary enterprises. These are discussed as realistically and conservatively as possible in terms of the potential future profits for the winner of the prize.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff prüfen

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen

    Bestellung bei Subito €


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Next X‐Prize: L1 Base with Linked Asteroid Mining as Prime Catalyst for Space Enterprise


    Beteiligte:
    Erickson, Ken R. (Autor:in) / El-Genk, Mohamed S. (Herausgeber:in)

    Kongress:

    SPACE TECH.& APPLIC.INT.FORUM-STAIF 2006: 10th Conf Thermophys Applic Microgravity; 23rd Symp Space Nucl Pwr & Propulsion; 4th Conf Human/Robotic Tech & Nat'l Vision for Space Explor.; 4th Symp Space Coloniz.; 3rd Symp on New Frontiers & Future Concepts ; 2006 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)


    Erschienen in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 813 , 1 ; 1145-1152


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    20.01.2006


    Format / Umfang :

    8 pages





    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch



    Next X-Prize: L1 Base with Linked Asteroid Mining as Prime Catalyst for Space Enterprise

    Erickson, K. R. / American Institute of Physics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006


    Asteroid Prospecting and Space Mining

    Ferus, Martin / Žabka, Jano / Schmidt, Nikola et al. | Springer Verlag | 2022


    Prize concept boosts space enterprise

    Norris, Guy | Online Contents | 2013


    ASTEROID MINING: KEY TO SPACE ECONOMY

    Jain, Sankalp / Jain, Prakhar | TIBKAT | 2022


    Asteroid Mining

    Zacny, Kris / Cohen, Marc M. / James, Warren W. et al. | AIAA | 2013