Space economy

Space, asteroid race for precious metals and rare earths

Start-ups engaged in the difficult and very expensive task of searching for raw materials to bring back to Earth are multiplying. And China starts in May

by Leopoldo Benacchio

17 April 2025

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Nell’illustrazione la raccolta di materiale da un asteroide, frontiera promettente per le risorse minerarie dello spazio

4' min read

Key points

Looking for lithium, platinum, gold and cobalt
Start-up AstroForge tries again
China is leaving

4' min read

In our solar system there is a treasure trove of precious metals contained in the thousands of asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, or even much further away. The idea of fetching them and bringing them back to Earth, which until a few years ago seemed, at best, straight out of a science fiction novel, in 2025 instead seems like a daring operation, yes, but one that can be attempted, and one that is currently being worked on by various start-ups around the world, the Californian AstroForge in primis.

The impetus for this bold and very costly undertaking is the increasing demand for metals important to us, such as platinum, nickel and rare earths, which makes space companies also look to space to meet this need. Asteroids, in fact, may offer a solution, at least in theory, to solve the problem of the growing scarcity of many raw materials, the search for and extraction of which, moreover, often poses serious environmental impact problems.

To understand, remember that asteroids are small rocky bodies, often very metallic, that form a belt around the Sun and largely, but not exclusively, orbit between Mars and Jupiter, mostly at a distance of 300 to 500 million kilometres. A lot for us, but nothing for the distances in the Universe.

They range in size from a few metres to hundreds, are mostly irregular in shape and have decidedly non-circular orbits, with rare examples of rounded, larger bodies. These particular celestial bodies are thought to be what is left over from the initial formation process of the solar system, almost like Lego bricks from which many planets originated through successive aggregations.

Looking for lithium, platinum, gold and cobalt

By analysing the sunlight reflected from asteroids, we can tell if and how rich they are in metals, from iron to nickel and cobalt to platinum and gold. Apart from the hope of finding a lot of lithium, the holy grail of today's technology, some of these asteroids are thought to have enough rare metals to change the world economy. To get an idea: a platinum-rich asteroid, 500 metres in size, may contain 174 times the world's annual production of that metal.

A small number of asteroids very close to Earth are the focus of interest for future space miners, and there is no shortage of problems, but various strategies are being studied. First of all, it is necessary to get to know the few asteroids that will be possible targets of the first missions as well as possible. Then, of course, autonomous robots will be used, capable of withstanding extreme conditions, with temperatures that vary abruptly, since many of these bodies rotate rapidly on themselves, alternately exposing their various faces to solar radiation. Once at the target asteroid, it is a question of extracting the material, and here the techniques studied are of the most varied, from the let's say traditional excavation to the use of lasers.

Other problems start when it comes to bringing the mined material home; having 100 kilos of gold at 500 million kilometres is not in itself an advantage. This is why various techniques are being examined, from the use of small capsules to be launched back to Earth, a technique that has already been tried with comets with success, to the use of low-consumption, ion-powered engines, which are slow but consume very little power.

Start-up AstroForge tries again

At the forefront of this new competition for metals in space is AstroForge, a Californian start-up founded in 2022 that has raised $55 million from private investors to test the extraction and refining of precious metals directly in space. After a first mission in 2023, which tested the refining technology in Earth orbit, AstroForge launched the Odin mission last February to study asteroid 2022 OB5, which has a quantity of platinum inside it. Unfortunately, the probe has had communication problems and is still following the planned trajectory, but without being able to receive orders from Earth.

Like true pioneers at AstroForge, they have not lost heart and are preparing the next mission, Vestri, which, with a bit of luck as they state in a message on X, they expect in 2026. If successful, it will be the first private mission to land on a celestial body outside the Earth-Moon system, a significant milestone for the commercial space industry, which has not been too lucky lately.

A demonstration launch is also planned for 2026 by the start-up Karman+, which recently received funding to develop an autonomous robotic vehicle with artificial intelligence, which is expected to be used for a demonstration launch on the Moon as a first step.

Also on the Moon, Ispace, of Japan, and the Asteroid Mining Corporation, of the United Kingdom, have entered into an agreement for a mission to the Moon in which they will test the robot Scar-E, designed to tackle difficult terrain, such as craters, currently inaccessible to lunar rovers.

China is leaving

But in this race there are also the big guns, not just start-ups, China in May 2025, aims to collect samples from asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and bring them back to Earth, the mission is Tianwen 2.

There is a lot at stake, to put it simply, and many expectations, as many as the serious difficulties and high costs of these projects, but it does seem that the payback could be high: a single asteroid could hold billions of dollars' worth of resources.

Finally, it must be taken into account that going for metals in asteroids will hopefully help our planet, which already has enough environmental problems. That's not what it's for, but it comes as a bonus.