Think Earth’s resources will last forever? Think again! China just announced a major initiative to mine the moon and asteroids for rare metals and helium-3. This article explores how space mining might become humanity’s next frontier – and why it could be easier than digging really, really deep into our own planet.
太空资源是地球大气层之外，能够被人类开发利用并带来经济和其他效益的物质或非物质资源。1月29日，中国航天科技集团宣布，“十五五”时期将开展“天工开物”重大专项论证，建设太空资源开发综合实验和地面支持系统，重点突破小天体资源勘查、智能自主开采、低成本转移运输、在轨处理等关键技术。这意味着我国太空资源开发正从概念构想迈向系统性工程布局，有望推动太空资源开发向低成本、可持续、规模化的方向发展。
我们为何要竭尽心力开发和利用太空资源？“太空资源的种类、储量和价值远超地球已探明储量，开发星际资源是人类的必然选择。”中国工程院院士王运敏举例，月球、小行星、火星等天体蕴藏着巨量的铂族金属、稀土等稀缺战略资源，月球氦-3预估储量超100万吨，是地球的百万倍。此外，太空采矿将牵引机器人、人工智能、新材料等全域高技术突破，其技术红利将反哺地面产业，驱动新一轮产业革命，催生全新的太空制造、轨道服务等产业，开辟万亿级市场。
王运敏表示，随着地球浅部资源越来越无法满足人类发展需求，转向深部、深海、深空探求资源成为必然选择。但地球深部开采面临高地应力、高地温、高井深、高渗透压与开采扰动等极端环境挑战，深海开采则要应对超高压、低温腐蚀、低能见度、通信困难等多重难题。“太空采矿因其资源禀赋的独特性，比实现地球极深部资源开发更容易，而且会带动一大批前沿理论、技术、装备的发展，将成为未来资源战略的终极制高点。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>太空资源 | tàikōng zīyuán | space resources |
| 小天体 | xiǎo tiāntǐ | small celestial body/asteroid |
| 稀土 | xītǔ | rare earth (elements) |
| 储量 | chǔliàng | reserves/deposits</p> |
| 太空 | tài kōng | outer space |
| 资 | zī | resources; capital; to provide; to supply; to support; money; expense |
| 源 | yuān | root; origin |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 地球 | dì qíu | the earth |
| 大气层 | dà qì céng | (meteorology) the atmosphere; atmospheric layer |
| 之外 | zhī wài | outside; excluding |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 够 | gòu | enough (sufficient); enough (too much); (coll.) (before adj.) really; (coll.) to reach by stretching out |
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 类 | lěi | kind; type; class; category; (bound form) to resemble; to be similar to |
| 开发 | kāi fā | to exploit (a resource); to open up (for development); to develop |
| 利用 | lì yòng | to exploit; to make use of; to use; to take advantage of; to utilize |
| 并 | bìng | and; furthermore; also; together with; (not) at all; simultaneously; to combine; to join; to merge; to combine; to amalgamate; short name for Taiyuan 太原[Tai4 yuan2]; variant of 並|并[bing4] |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 经济 | jīng jì | economy; economic |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 其 | qí | his; her; its; their; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it) |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 效益 | xiào yì | benefit; effectiveness; efficiency |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 物 | wù | (bound form) thing; (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself; people other than oneself |
| 质 | zhǐ | character; quality; to pawn; hostage; Taiwan pr. [zhi2] |
| 或 | huò | maybe; perhaps; might; possibly; or |
| 非 | Fēi | abbr. for 非洲[Fei1 zhou1], Africa |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly; CL:個|个[ge4],輪|轮[lun2] |
| 日 | rì | (bound form) sun; day; day of the month; (bound form) Japan (abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3]); (vulgar) to fuck; to have sex with |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 航天 | háng tiān | space flight |
| 科技 | kē jì | science and technology |
| 集团 | jí tuán | group; bloc; corporation; conglomerate |
| 宣 | xuan | to declare; to announce; to publicize; to spread |
| 布 | bù | variant of 布[bu4]; to announce; to spread; cloth; to declare; to announce; to spread; to make known |
| 十五 | shí wǔ | fifteen; 15 |
| 五 | wǔ | five; 5 |
| 时期 | shí qī | period; phase; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 将 | jiāng | will; shall; to use; to take; to checkmate; just a short while ago; (introduces object of main verb, used in the same way as 把[ba3]) |
| 开展 | kāi zhǎn | to launch; to develop; to unfold; (of an exhibition etc) to open |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 工 | gōng | work; worker; skill; profession; trade; craft; labor |
| 开 | kāi | to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil; to write out (a prescription, check, … |
| 重大 | zhòng dà | great; important; major; significant |
| 专 | zhuan | for a particular person, occasion, purpose; special; particular (to sth); specialized |
| 项 | Xiàng | surname Xiang |
| 论 | Lún | abbr. for 論語|论语[Lun2 yu3], The Analects (of Confucius) |
| 证 | zhěng | to admonish |
| 建设 | jiàn shè | to build; to construct; to establish; to develop; to institute |
| 综 | zong | heddle |
| 合 | gě | 100 ml; one-tenth of a peck; measure for dry grain equal to one-tenth of sheng 升 or liter, or one-hundredth dou 斗; variant of 合[he2] |
| 实验 | shí yàn | experiment; test; CL:個|个[ge4],次[ci4]; experimental; to experiment |
| 地面 | dì miàn | floor; ground; surface |
| 支持 | zhī chí | to be in favor of; to support; to back; support; backing; to stand by; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 系 | xì | to connect; to relate to; to tie up; to bind; to be (literary); system; department; faculty; to tie; to fasten; to button up |
| 统 | tóng | to gather; to unify |
| 重点 | chóng diǎn | to recount (e.g. results of election); to re-evaluate |
| 突破 | tū pò | to break through; to make a breakthrough; to surmount (an obstacle); (sports) to break through the opponent's defense |
| 勘 | kan | to investigate; to collate |
| 查 | Zhā | surname Zha |
| 智 | zhì | (literary) wise; wisdom |
| 自主 | zì zhǔ | to act independently; to be autonomous; to be in control of one's own affairs |
| 开采 | kāi cǎi | to extract (ore or other resource from a mine); to exploit; to mine |
| 低成本 | dī chéng běn | low cost; inexpensive |
| 转 | zhuǎi | see 轉文|转文[zhuai3 wen2] |
| 移 | yī | to move; to change; to remove |
| 运输 | yùn shū | to transport; to carry; transportation |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 轨 | guǐ | (bound form) rail; track; course; path |
| 处理 | chǔ lǐ | to handle; to deal with; to punish; to treat sth by a special process; to process; to sell at reduced prices |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as; (used to end an enumeration); (literary) (… |
| 关 | Guān | surname Guan |
| 键 | jiǎn | key (on a piano or computer keyboard); chemical bond |
| 技 | jì | skill |
| 术 | shù | method; technique |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 意 | yì | (bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense; (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind; (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yi4 da4 li4]) |
| 味 | wěi | taste; (fig.) (noun suffix) feel; sense |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 我国 | wǒ guó | my country; our country |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 概 | gài | (bound form) general; approximate; without exception; categorically; (bound form) bearing; deportment; old variant of 概[gai4] |
| 念 | niàn | variant of 念[nian4], to read aloud; to read; to study (a subject); to attend (a school); to read aloud; to give (sb) a tongue-lashing (CL:頓|顿[dun4]); to miss (sb); idea; remembrance; twenty (banker's anti-fraud numer… |
| 构 | gǒu | to reach by stretching |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 迈 | mǎi | to step; to stride; (loanword) mile (esp. in expressions of vehicle speed) |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 性 | xǐng | nature; property; attribute; sex; suffix forming adjective from verb; essence |
| 工程 | gōng chéng | engineering; an engineering project; project; undertaking; CL:個|个[ge4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 布局 | bù jú | arrangement; composition; layout; opening (chess jargon) |
| 有望 | yǒu wàng | hopeful; promising |
| 推动 | tuī dòng | to push (e.g. for acceptance of a plan); to promote; to give impetus to |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 持 | chí | to hold; to grasp; to support; to maintain; to persevere; to manage; to run (i.e. administer); to control |
| 续 | xù | to continue; to replenish |
| 规 | guī | variant of 規|规[gui1]; compass; a rule; regulation; to admonish; to plan; to scheme |
| 模 | mō | to imitate; norm |
| 化 | huā | variant of 花[hua1] |
| 方向 | fāng xiàng | direction; orientation |
| 发展 | fā zhǎn | development; growth; to develop; to grow; to expand |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 为何 | wèi hé | why |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 竭 | jiē | to exhaust |
| 尽心 | jìn xīn | with all of one's heart |
| 力 | Lì | surname Li |
| 种 | zhǒng | seed; species; kind; type; classifier for types, kinds, sorts |
| 价 | jiǎ | (literary) messenger; servant |
| 值 | zhī | value; to happen to |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 超 | chao | to exceed; to surpass; to pass; ultra- |
| 已 | yǐ | already; to stop; then; afterwards |
| 探 | tǎn | to explore; to scout; to stretch forward |
| 明 | Míng | Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); surname Ming; Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 星 | xīng | star; heavenly body; satellite; small amount |
| 际 | jǐ | border; boundary; between; to meet; occasion |
| 必然 | bì rán | inevitable; certain; necessity |
| 选 | xuán | to choose; to select |
| 择 | zē | to select; to pick over; to differentiate; also pr. [zhai2] |
| 院 | yuàn | courtyard; institution; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 院士 | yuàn shì | member of a national academy |
| 王 | Wáng | surname Wang |
| 运 | yùn | to move; to transport; to use; to apply; fortune; luck; fate |
| 敏 | mín | (bound form) quick; nimble; agile |
| 举 | jǔ | variant of 舉|举[ju3]; to lift; to hold up; to cite; to enumerate; to act; to raise; to choose; to elect; act; move; deed |
| 例 | lì | example; precedent; rule; case; instance |
| 月球 | yuè qíu | the moon |
| 小行星 | xiǎo xíng xīng | asteroid; minor planet |
| 火星 | Huǒ xīng | Mars (planet) |
| 天体 | tiān tǐ | celestial body; nude body |
| 蕴 | yǔn | to accumulate; to contain; to collect; inner strength |
| 藏 | Zàng | Tibetan ethnic group; Tibet Autonomous Region (short name for 西藏自治區|西藏自治区[Xi1 zang4 Zi4 zhi4 qu1]) |
| 巨量 | jù liàng | huge quantity; massive |
| 铂 | ||
| 族 | zú | race; nationality; ethnicity; clan; by extension, social group (e.g. office workers 上班族) |
| 金属 | jīn shǔ | metal; CL:種|种[zhong3] |
| 稀 | xi | sparse; scattered; diluted; thin; watery; (bound form) totally; extremely (used with negative attributes, as in 稀糟[xi1 zao1] "utterly ruined") |
| 缺 | quē | deficiency; lack; scarce; vacant post; to run short of |
| 战略 | zhàn lu:e4 | strategy |
| 氦 | ||
| 预 | yù | to advance; in advance; beforehand; to prepare |
| 估 | gu | to estimate |
| 万 | mò | used in 万俟[Mo4 qi2]; surname Wan |
| 吨 | dun | ton (loanword) |
| 百万 | bǎi wàn | million |
| 倍 | bèi | (two, three etc) -fold; times (multiplier); double; to increase or multiply |
| 此外 | cǐ wài | besides; in addition; moreover; furthermore |
| 采矿 | cǎi kuàng | mining |
| 牵引 | qiān yǐn | to pull; to draw (a cart); to tow |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 器 | qì | device; tool; utensil; CL:臺|台[tai2] |
| 人工 | rén gōng | artificial; manpower; manual work |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 材 | cāi | material; ability; a capable individual |
| 料 | liào | material; stuff; grain; feed; to expect; to anticipate; to guess |
| 全 | Quán | surname Quan |
| 域 | yǔ | field; area |
| 高 | Gāo | surname Gao |
| 红利 | hóng lì | bonus; dividend |
| 反 | fǎn | contrary; in reverse; inside out or upside down; to reverse; to return; to oppose; opposite; against; anti-; to rebel; to use analogy; instead; abbr. for 反切[fan3 qie4] phonetic sys… |
| 哺 | ||
| 产 | chǎn | to give birth; to reproduce; to produce; product; resource; estate; property; variant of 產|产[chan3] |
| 业 | Yè | surname Ye |
| 驱动 | qū dòng | to drive; to propel; drive (vehicle wheel); drive mechanism (tape or disk); device driver (computing software) |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 轮 | lūn | wheel; disk; ring; to take turns; to rotate |
| 革 | gé | animal hide; leather; to reform; to remove; to expel (from office) |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 催 | cui | to urge; to prompt; to hasten sth |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 全新 | quán xīn | all new; completely new |
| 制 | zhì | system; to control; to regulate; variant of 製|制[zhi4]; to manufacture; to make |
| 造 | zǎo | to make; to manufacture; to fabricate; party (in a lawsuit or legal agreement); classifier for crops |
| 轨道 | guǐ dào | track (for trains etc); orbit (of a satellite); (fig.) a person's established path in life; desired trajectory (of a business or other endeavor); (audio engineering) track; (quantu… |
| 服务 | fú wù | to serve; service; CL:項|项[xiang4] |
| 开辟 | kāi pì | to open up; to create; to establish |
| 亿 | yì | 100 million |
| 级 | jí | level; grade; rank; step (of stairs); CL:個|个[ge4]; classifier: step, level |
| 市场 | shì chǎng | marketplace; market; bazaar; (economics) market |
| 表示 | biǎo shì | (of sb) to express; to state; to show; (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show; expression; manifestation |
| 随着 | suí zhe | along with; in the wake of; following |
| 浅 | jiān | sound of moving water |
| 部 | bù | ministry; department; section; part; division; troops; board; classifier for works of literature, films, machines etc |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 无 | mó | used in 南無|南无[na1 mo2] |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 足 | jù | excessive |
| 需 | xū | to require; to need; to want; necessity; need |
| 求 | qíu | to seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseech |
| 转向 | zhuǎn xiàng | to change direction; fig. to change one's stance |
| 深 | shēn | old variant of 深[shen1]; (lit. and fig.) deep |
| 海 | Hǎi | surname Hai |
| 空 | kōng | empty; air; sky; in vain |
| 成为 | chéng wéi | to become; to turn into |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 面临 | miàn lín | to face sth; to be confronted with |
| 高地 | gāo dì | highland; upland |
| 应力 | yìng lì | stress (physics) |
| 温 | wen | warm; temperate; temperature; to warm up; to review; surname Wen |
| 井 | Jǐng | Jing, one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy; surname Jing |
| 渗 | shěn | to seep; to horrify |
| 透 | tǒu | (bound form) to penetrate; to seep through; thoroughly; through and through |
| 压 | yā | to press; to push down; to keep under (control); pressure |
| 与 | yú | variant of 歟|欤[yu2] |
| 扰 | ráo | to disturb |
| 动 | dòng | (of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace; to touch; to make use of; to stir (emotions); to alter; abbr. for 動詞|动词[dong4 ci2], verb |
| 极 | jí | extremely; pole (geography, physics); utmost; top |
| 端 | duān | (bound form) tip; end; extremity; (bound form) aspect; facet; (bound form) upright; proper; to hold sth level with both hands; to carry; to eliminate; to wipe out; old variant of 端[duan1]; start; origin |
| 环 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 境 | jǐng | border; condition; circumstances |
| 挑 | tiao | to carry on a shoulder pole; to pick |
| 战 | zhàn | to fight; fight; war; battle |
| 则 | zé | (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm; (bound form) principle; (literary) to imitate; to follow; classifie… |
| 应对 | yìng duì | to answer; to reply; to handle; to deal with; response |
| 高压 | gāo yā | (physics) high pressure; (meteorology) high atmospheric pressure; high voltage; systolic blood pressure; high-handed; oppressive |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 腐 | fǔ | decay; rotten |
| 蚀 | ||
| 见 | jiàn | to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; opinion; view |
| 度 | dù | to pass; to spend (time); measure; limit; extent; degree of intensity; degree (angles, temperature etc); kilowatt-hour; classifier for events and occurrences |
| 通 | tōng | to go through; to know well; (suffix) expert; to connect; to communicate; open; to clear; classifier for letters, telegrams, phone calls etc |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
| 困难 | kùn nan | difficult; challenging; straitened circumstances; difficult situation |
| 多重 | duō chóng | multi- (faceted, cultural, ethnic etc) |
| 难题 | nán tí | difficult problem |
| 因 | yīn | old variant of 因[yin1]; cause; reason; because |
| 禀 | ||
| 赋 | fǔ | poetic essay; to bestow on |
| 独特 | dú tè | unique; distinctive |
| 比 | Bǐ | Belgium; Belgian; abbr. for 比利時|比利时[Bi3 li4 shi2] |
| 实现 | shí xiàn | to achieve; to implement; to realize; to bring about |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 容 | Róng | surname Rong |
| 易 | Yì | surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]) |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 且 | qiě | and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 带动 | dài dòng | to spur; to provide impetus; to drive |
| 大批 | dà pī | large quantities of |
| 前沿 | qián yán | (military) forward position; frontier; cutting-edge; forefront |
| 理论 | lǐ lùn | theory; CL:個|个[ge4]; to argue; to take notice of |
| 装备 | zhuāng bèi | equipment; to equip; to outfit |
| 未 | wèi | not yet; did not; have not; not; 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep; ancient Chinese compass point: 210° |
| 终 | zhong | end |
| 制高点 | zhì gāo diǎn | (military) high ground; vantage point (providing a good view); commanding position (providing strategic advantage) |
Space resources refer to material or non-material resources beyond Earth’s atmosphere that can be developed and utilized by humans to bring economic and other benefits. On January 29, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced that during the ’15th Five-Year Plan’ period, it will conduct feasibility studies for the ‘Tiangong Kaiwu’ major special project, building comprehensive experimental and ground support systems for space resource development, with key breakthroughs focused on small celestial body resource exploration, intelligent autonomous mining, low-cost transfer transportation, and in-orbit processing technologies. This signifies that China’s space resource development is moving from conceptual planning to systematic engineering layout, expected to drive space resource development toward low-cost, sustainable, and large-scale directions.
Why should we devote tremendous effort to developing and utilizing space resources? ‘The variety, reserves, and value of space resources far exceed Earth’s proven reserves; developing interstellar resources is humanity’s inevitable choice,’ said Wang Yunmin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He cited examples: celestial bodies like the Moon, asteroids, and Mars contain enormous quantities of scarce strategic resources such as platinum group metals and rare earths. The Moon’s helium-3 reserves are estimated at over 1 million tons – a million times that of Earth. Furthermore, space mining will drive breakthroughs across robotics, artificial intelligence, new materials, and other high-tech fields. These technological dividends will benefit terrestrial industries, drive a new industrial revolution, give rise to entirely new industries like space manufacturing and orbital services, and open up trillion-yuan markets.
Wang Yunmin stated that as Earth’s shallow resources increasingly fail to meet human development needs, turning to deep underground, deep sea, and deep space for resources becomes inevitable. However, deep Earth mining faces extreme environmental challenges including high ground stress, high temperatures, deep shafts, high osmotic pressure, and mining disturbances. Deep-sea mining must contend with ultra-high pressure, low-temperature corrosion, low visibility, and communication difficulties. ‘Due to the unique nature of its resource endowment, space mining is actually easier to achieve than extremely deep Earth resource extraction, and it will drive the development of numerous cutting-edge theories, technologies, and equipment, becoming the ultimate strategic high ground for future resources.’