Space Mining: Tech Companies Plan To Find Treasure In Space

For money's sake--this is possibly the major reason why tech companies are rushing to set foot in space first. Because even greater profits await them in exchange for precious minerals, rocks, and other elements they could get from space mining.

The likes of SpaceX's Elon Musk, Naveen Jain's Moon Express, and other space companies like the Deep Space Industries and Plantery Resources could possibly have a different agenda, reports Christian Science Monitor. Aside from simply just taking ordinary people to space, space mining could be a greater factor for these tech giants' dream of conquering the universe.

According to The Guardian, tech companies could eventually aim for mining asteroid rocks, minerals, space water, and other elements they could get from space. As early as 2017, private-owned space operations and missions will start on their journey to different parts of the universe, but mostly the moon and Mars.

Is Space Mining Legal?

There is nothing wrong in gaining profit, just not at the expense of anyone or anything. And in Earth's history, mining has never been good  the environment, so what could it do in space? Space mining is probably one of the most brilliant and great breakthroughs by an entrepreneur, however, is this even legal?

In a report by Sci-Tech Today, tech companies could get away with space mining because there is a law passed and signed by outgoing-president Barack Obama in November 2015 that allows just that. The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act allows companies to gather, own, and bring back anything that they have seen in space.

Although the law would not allow any company to take ownership of a certain asteroid, planet, or space structure, still the underlying threat of what mining could cause these structures is looming. It's also possible that not only are the space structures be severely damaged, but the Earth can also be affected in the longer run.