Market Trends of Space Mining Industry
Government Initiatives to Help the Growth of the Market
Government initiatives of various countries are currently helping the growth of the space mining market. Government space agencies are issuing licenses to parties planning to conduct activities in space, and some countries are enforcing new regulations for space mining. The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, enacted by the United States in 2015, encourages private companies to undertake mining work beyond Earth. In 2020, the US administration created new rules through an executive order following the 2015 law change for how those companies may profit from operations on the Moon, asteroids, and other planets. The administration also plans to encourage other nations to adopt this new US perspective on space mining.
Moreover, the Luxembourg space mining law, passed as a part of the SpaceResources initiative in 2017, aims to relax restrictions on private companies' mining operations beyond Earth. Luxembourg became the first country to adopt legal regulations pertaining to mining in space, including from asteroids. The United Arab Emirates is also taking steps to regulate mining for resources in space so private companies can retain full ownership of the mined resources. In 2020, the UAE Space Agency announced the details of the new UAE Space Law that tackles overseeing several space-related commercial activities, including mining operations and space logistics services, in addition to the mechanism for dealing with space debris and meteorites and managing space risks.
Japan became the fourth nation in 2021 to lay the legal foundations that favor the incursion of its companies into the commercial exploitation of the Moon, asteroids, and other planets after passing the Law for the Promotion of Commercial Activities Related to the Exploration and Exploitation of Space Resources. Government initiatives aimed at facilitating the players to take advantage of space mining are expected to encourage them to invest in the highly profitable industry, thereby driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.
Asia-Pacific Expected to Register the Highest CAGR During the Forecast Period
The space mining market is expected to witness the fastest growth in Asia-Pacific during the forecast period, as several Asia-Pacific countries have started to shift their focus toward the space mining sector. China is engaged in a technological race to thwart the increasing efforts of the US to dominate space commerce. China's private and state-owned aerospace companies were engaged in a slew of activities recently. In October 2021, the Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology (AASPT), a part of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), test-fired a solid rocket motor producing 500 tons of thrust. The rocket is designed to propel the next iteration of China's heavy-lift rockets, which would meet various demands for space missions like crewed Moon landings, deep space exploration, and off-world resource extraction. Also, in April 2021, Shenzhen Origin Space Technology Co. Ltd launched the first commercial spacecraft named NEO-1, dedicated to mining space resources, ranging from asteroids to the lunar surface.
In addition to China, India has also floated plans about extracting Helium-3 from the Moon. On this note, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to mine Helium-3-rich lunar dust, generate energy, and transport it back to Earth. ISRO's lunar dust mining plan comes in the backdrop of India's plan to cut down import dependence on hydrocarbons by 10 percentage points by 2022.
In June 2021, Japan became the fourth country in the world, after the United States, Luxembourg, and the United Arab Emirates, to draft a dedicated law for the exploration and exploitation of space resources. The Law permits Japanese private business operators to engage in the exploration and development of space resources, such as water, minerals, and other non-living resources in outer space, on the Moon and other celestial bodies. For instance, in April 2021, the Chinese commercial aerospace company Origin Space Co. Ltd sent its prototype space mining spacecraft NEO-01 into space by a Long March 6 rocket. The company aims to carry out experiments to test the spacecraft's capabilities in asteroid mining and space debris removal. Such developments render a favorable outlook for the market studied in Asia-Pacific during the forecast period.
