Outer Space Mining: Exploring Techno-Utopianism in a Time of Climate Crisis

Abstract

Outer space holds a special place in the geographical imagination of techno-utopianism. At a time of climate crisis, the mining of celestial bodies, including asteroids, is cast as a possible “tech-driven” response to the need for “green transition” mineral resources in a context of rising geopolitical tensions and concerns over terrestrial extraction. Although still a long way from commercial-scale implementation, outer space mining no longer appears as far-fetched science fiction within the context of a booming “New Space” industry and privatization of celestial commons. Drawing from a growing body of research and critiques of responsible mineral sourcing, we explore some of the legal, political, ethical, and environmental dimensions of outer space mining, and compare them with land-based and deep-sea terrestrial mining. We then point to key areas for further geographical and social sciences enquiries into outer space extractive frontiers, including the uneven distribution of space mining wealth, the impacts on terrestrial mining communities in the Global South, and the reconceptualization of the mining enclave.

在技术乌托邦主义的地理假想中, 外太空占有特殊的地位。在气候危机之际, 以及在地缘政治紧张局势加剧、担忧陆地开采的背景下, “技术驱动”对“绿色转型”矿产资源需求的回应是：开采小行星等天体。尽管远未达到商业化规模, 但在“新太空”产业蓬勃发展和共有天体私有化的情况下, 外太空开采不再是遥不可及。根据日益增多的对合理矿产开发的研究和批评, 我们探讨了外太空开采的法律、政治、伦理和环境问题, 并将其与陆地和深海开采进行了比较。然后, 我们指出了推动地理学和社会学在研究外太空开采前沿中的关键领域：太空开采财富的不均衡分布、对全球南方国家陆地开采社区的影响以及对开采飞地的重新理解。

El espacio exterior ocupa lugar especial en la imaginación geográfica de la tecno-utopía. En un tiempo de crisis climática, la explotación minera de cuerpos celestes, los asteroides incluidos, se presenta como una respuesta “de orientación tecnológica” a la necesidad de una “transición verde” en referencia a la necesidad de los recursos mineros dentro del contexto de crecientes tensiones geopolíticas y preocupación por la extracción terrestre. Aunque aún se ve lejana su implementación a escala comercial, la minería del espacio exterior ya no luce como ciencia ficción descabellada dentro del contexto de una floreciente industria del “Nuevo Espacio” y la privatización de los comunales celestiales. Basándonos en un creciente cuerpo de investigaciones y críticas sobre el abastecimiento responsable de minerales, exploramos algunas de las dimensiones legales, políticas, éticas y ambientales de la minería del espacio exterior, y las comparamos con la minería terrestre y de las profundidades marinas. Luego, señalamos áreas clave para la indagación geográfica y de las ciencias sociales sobre las fronteras extractivas del espacio exterior, incluyendo la desigual distribución de la riqueza minera del espacio, los impactos sobre las comunidades mineras terrestres en el Sur Global, y la reconceptualización del enclave minero.

Key Words:

• asteroids
• frontiers
• governance
• mining
• space

关键词：:

• 小行星
• 前沿
• 治理
• 开采
• 太空。

Palabras clave:

• asteroides
• espacio
• fronteras
• gobernanza
• minería

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of Isabella Montecalvo for proofreading the article, as well as the three anonymous reviewers who provided invaluable comments to improve and strengthen the article. We also recognize Eric Leinberger’s contribution through the design of the spaceports map.

Notes

1 In this article we use space, outer space, and asteroid mining indistinctively. While recognizing the differences between mining asteroids and mining planets or moons, the core questions remain sensibly similar.

2 On techno-utopianism, see Carson (2016); on “sociotechnical” imaginaries and energy, including physical and social “infrastructures,” see Jasanoff and Kim (2013).

3 Other iterations include, for example, the pursuit of “extreme energy” through the extraction of unconventional fossil fuel deposits, whether low-grade bitumen, shale gas, or ultra-deep water offshore oil (see Klare 2012). In 2017, the Colorado School of Mines, the leading mining and oil and gas engineering university in the United States, began offering a Space Resources program. The program is described as “developing core knowledge and gaining design practices in systems for responsible exploration, extraction, and use of resources in the Solar System” (Colorado School of Mines n.d).

4 Reopened in the sense of reengaging with the geographical tradition of studying the earth in relation with the broader cosmos, including by scholars such as von Humboldt describing the cosmos as “the assemblage of all things in heaven and earth” (cited in Cosgrove 2000; see also Dunnett 2021).

5 Recognizing the (neo)colonial character of green extractivism (Verweijen and Dunlap 2021) and of decolonizing a universalizing concept of the Anthropocene (Davis and Todd 2017), constitute guiding elements for this study.

6 For example, Bezos’s speech at the Vatican on 14 October 2022, “Some people ask me why … invest so much into space when there are so many problems to be solved on Earth? The reason is simple. Investing in space will help preserve the Earth. Energy and other resources can be harvested and used in space without harming the Earth. Earth is a garden that should be tended. Blue Origin’s long-term goal is to move all polluting industries off Earth.” See Bezos Earth Fund (2022). Bezos’s thoughts about moving industry to outer space are highly influenced by O’Neill’s research in the 1970s.

7 For example, Luxembourg established a US$227 million fund to support space mining processes (Reuters 2016) and the royal family itself promotes the industry (Abrahamian 2017; Brennan 2019).

8 See, for example, “Vancouver Recommendations on Space Mining,” Outer Space Institute, 20 April 2020.

9 For a reflection on the “New Climatic Regime” and a reconceptualization of the “Terrestrial,” see Latour (2018). On geopolitical framings, see, for example Bordoff and O’Sullivan (2022) and the special issue of GREEN, “War Ecology: A New Paradigm?,” September 2022.

10 Engineering figures prominently, for example, in Serviss’s (1898) novel Edison’s Conquest of Mars, among the first to depict OSM. For a science book on OSM using sci-fi short stories to appeal to a broader public, see Lewis (1996). For a sci-fi OSM book using recent developments in space engineering, see Suarez (2019).

11 We note that this privatization—on an extraction site basis—will be short-term and temporary as DSM operators will collect nodules, created over millions of years, on a concession granted by a UN organization and licensed by a sponsoring state, before moving to the next site.

12 The Antarctic Treaty System ensures its peaceful use, promotes scientific collaboration, and bans mining activities (Arvanitidis and Almyriotou 2021).

13 The radial force of a rotating asteroid is used to move a chain of payloads connecting surface vehicle and orbiting collecting spacecraft.

14 In this discussion, it remains important to consider the hybrid character of space ventures that mix public and private inputs, as well as other approaches, including those potentially embraced by China and Russia. The issue of state-driven rather than private endeavors also questions the neoliberal definition of space mining.

15 Note also that in 2019 the U.S. administration under President Trump reestablished the U.S. Space Command (see Dawson 2021).

16 Planetary Resources, Inc., has been among the most prominent companies due to its support from Aliens and Avatar director James Cameron, Google cofounder Larry Page, and prominent NASA engineers (Wall 2012). One of its mottoes was: “To fuel growth on Earth, and beyond” (PR 2014). The company was acquired by ConsenSys, a blockchain technology company, and later terminated.

17 See https://lunarresourcesregistry.com/. The Web site notably includes impact and landing sites, as well as mineral exploration and development zones self-registered by the company and offered for sale.

18 From the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI), to BetterCoal, ResponsibleSteel, International Lithium Association (ILiA), or the Copper Mark, a flurry of initiatives developed responsible sourcing programs, standards, and frameworks targeting specific minerals.

19 For example, Storr (2021) mentioned that “Bezos was a student of Cornell University physicist Gerard K. O’Neill, whose speculative tract on space colonisation, The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space (O’Neill 1976), is frequently cited by space entrepreneurs” (3).

20 From Appel’s (2019) work in Equatorial Guinea to Ferguson’s (1999) experience in the Zambian Copperbelt, Kirsch (2014) in Papua New Guinea, and F. Li (2015) in Peru, ethnographies have pointed to the exclusionary (and often destructive) models adopted by the industry (see also Gamu et al. 2015).

21 To a certain extent, the potential for refineries and the fabrication of end product to be located in space, for in-space/in-situ use will significantly affect this analysis, and water could be of use for orbiting satellites.

22 In the case of French Guiana and the Ariane spaceport, Redfield (2002) argued that “outer space reflects a practical shadow of empire” (795). See also Redfield (2000).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raphael Deberdt

RAPHAEL DEBERDT is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada, and an Associate Researcher in the Expertise Center on Mining Governance at the Catholic University of Bukavu, Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. E-mail: [email protected]. His research includes the opening of nonterrestrial extractive frontiers and the dynamics of responsible cobalt sourcing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Philippe Le Billon

PHILIPPE LE BILLON is a Professor in the Department of Geography and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include extractivism, conflicts over resources, and environmental and ocean defenders.