Mission designs for asteroid mining – Ruida Xie
13 May @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm UTC+0
Abstract
Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are abundant with minerals that would be undoubtedly beneficial for future space exploration, as the utilization of these in-space resources could enable otherwise unaffordable missions. However, retrieving these resources and making the missions profitable are challenging. This research will tell people which to mine, when to mine, how to retrieve, and how much money the space mining industry can make. The following questions will be answered in this webinar:
❖ Q1: Which NEAs are the best targets for mining water / precious metals / silicates?
❖ Q2: What are the best timings to start mining on a given NEA?
❖ Q3: What are the key factors that influence the economic viability of an asteroid mining campaign?
❖ Q4: What is the role of low thrust propulsion in NEA mining? What are the benefits of utilizing low thrust propulsion in NEA mining?
❖ Q5: How much NEA mass can be transported by a low thrust propulsion system?
❖ Q6: Can current known NEAs form profitable mining industries? How much money can companies make from it?
Biography
Ruida Xie has a PhD the from University of New South Wales (UNSW). He has conducted his research at Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) for the past few years. He designs space mining missions on the moon, asteroids and beyond. His research interests include off-Earth mining & Space Resource Utilization (SRU), mission design and trajectory optimization. Particularly, he is interested in the application of artificial intelligence and big data in space sector.
His past research experience includes the design of attitude control system and task planning for remote sensing satellites, etc. In 2023, he was granted the Emerging Space Leasers Award by the IAF. He is a reviewer of Acta Astronautica, Advances in Space Research, etc. For his detailed research projects, visit: https://ruidaxie.com/.
Links
Follow the Livestream on the Space Renaissance YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/live/4iGaknMxz9o
and click ‘going’ on the Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/341040898761941/