We'll definitely see space mining. It will be under 100 years. Technically we've already mined things in space. We got moon rocks from the apollo missions and right now we have a rover on mars that's drilling into soil and taking samples. The biggest problem is getting off earth cheaply and powering missions once in space. Both of those things can be overcome. It's one thing to go to another planet though. It's totally something different to set up a complete supply chain in space.
The issue is that we need nuclear power for any sort of serious space exploration and the regulatory environment in USA sucks when it comes to getting reactors approved. That's why we're seeing companies building reactors in China and India and the people creating new types of reactors are doing it in Canada and other countries where it's easier.
The next phase will be putting a permanent colony on mars. After that we can start thinking about mining asteroids. I think we won't even need to solve the issue of launching from earth because we'll be able to manufacture things on mars.
Equally we won't be mining the deep ocean floor for a while. We don't currently have the materials to build large scale craft that can withstand the pressures at that depth.
The issue is that we need nuclear power for any sort of serious space exploration and the regulatory environment in USA sucks when it comes to getting reactors approved. That's why we're seeing companies building reactors in China and India and the people creating new types of reactors are doing it in Canada and other countries where it's easier.
The next phase will be putting a permanent colony on mars. After that we can start thinking about mining asteroids. I think we won't even need to solve the issue of launching from earth because we'll be able to manufacture things on mars.
Equally we won't be mining the deep ocean floor for a while. We don't currently have the materials to build large scale craft that can withstand the pressures at that depth.