The Colossal Untapped Value of Asteroids
In the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, there is an almost unfathomable amount of resources waiting to be exploited.
As detailed by Martin Armstrong of Statista , according to data from Wired and Valerio Pellegrini , the asteroid “Davida”, which has a diameter of 326 kilometers, has been identified as the most valuable asteroid in the belt , with an estimated value to some 27 quintillion (26,990,000,000,000,000,000) US dollars.
It is a carbonaceous chondrite-like asteroid, which contains water, nickel, iron, cobalt, nitrogen, ammonia and hydrogen.
You can find more infographics on Statista
June 30 marked Asteroid Day , a UN-sanctioned global awareness campaign whose mission is “to inspire, engage and educate the public about the opportunities and risks associated with asteroids”. While the risks to the Earth and all life on it are obviously not to be overlooked, the potential for increasing the resources available to humanity – and reaping the financial rewards – is immense.
As Statista’s dossier on space mining reports : “While space mining has not yet become a reality, the technology that will eventually allow the exploitation of the rich resources of the asteroids of the solar system is increasingly further developed by various companies. The market value of these activities stood at some US$712 million worldwide in 2017, and is expected to grow to US$3.9 billion by 2025.”
