Space Resource Processing

In Progress

Establish the foundational infrastructure for asteroid mining and material processing in space. This phase focuses on developing the supply chain for raw materials needed for subsequent construction phases.

Total Cost

$15.71B

$10.88B - $23.59B

Duration

10-15 years

BOM Items

Dependencies

None

Objectives

Deploy asteroid prospecting satellites
Establish first mining operation on near-Earth asteroid
Build orbital material processing facility
Create initial stockpile of construction materials
Test and validate in-situ resource utilization techniques

Project Timeline

Activity Timeline

Critical Path: 84 months

In Progress

Completed

Pending

Critical Path

Year 0Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Year 6Year 7

Click on activities to view detailed specifications. Gold indicators mark the critical path.

Bill of Materials

Spacecraft

Item	Quantity	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Cost Range	Specs
Prospecting Satellites Small satellites equipped with spectrometers for asteroid composition analysis	32 units	$5.00M	$160.00M	High	View Details
Transport Vehicles Cargo spacecraft for moving materials between asteroids and processing station. Krypton/iodine propulsion (xenon not viable due to supply constraints - demand exceeds global production 15-20x)	15 units	$133.33M	$2.00B	Medium	View Details

Robotics

Item	Quantity	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Cost Range	Specs
Mining Robots Autonomous mining and extraction robots for asteroid surface operations	20 units	$50.00M	$1.00B	Medium	View Details

Infrastructure

Item	Quantity	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Cost Range	Specs
Material Processing Station Orbital facility for refining raw asteroid materials	1 station	$10.00B	$10.00B	Medium	View Details
In-Situ Propellant Production Systems Integrated water extraction and electrolysis systems (H2O -> H2 + O2) using bucket-wheel excavation. Dual counter-rotating design for torque balancing in microgravity. Heats regolith to 1000C to liberate water.	4 units	$500.00M	$2.00B	Medium	View Details

Power Systems

Item	Quantity	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Cost Range	Specs
Solar Power Arrays Power generation for mining and processing operations	100 MW capacity	$5.00M	$500.00M	High	View Details

Governance

Item	Quantity	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Cost Range	Specs
Organizational Infrastructure Legal, governance, and coordination infrastructure for multi-century project execution. Includes legal entity establishment, succession mechanisms, global coordination systems, conflict resolution frameworks, and governance tooling.	1 organization	$50.00M	$50.00M	Low	View Details

Total Estimated Cost: $15.71B

Uncertainty Range

Min: $10.88B Max: $23.59B

Multi-LLM Consensus Analysis

This phase has been analyzed by multiple frontier AI models. Below is a synthesis of their findings, highlighting areas of agreement and divergent perspectives.

Gemini 3 Pro

$5.4B

±40%

GPT-5.2

$9.5B

±35%

Consensus

$7.5B

Range: $5.4B - $14.5B

Consensus Duration: 10 years

Key Agreements

+ ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) as foundational strategy
+ Prioritize water/propellant extraction over metals initially
+ Target boulder-scale (1,000-10,000 ton) objects first
+ Use Solar Electric Propulsion for capture tugs
+ Process in cislunar space, not LEO
+ Critical need for dust mitigation systems

Divergent Perspectives

~ Optimal cislunar location (L5 vs NRHO/DRO)
~ Whether to include metals processing in Phase 0
~ Nuclear backup power necessity
~ Specific target mass range
~ Timeline feasibility (7 years vs 10-12 years)

Open Questions (Research Priorities)

These questions must be resolved through funded research before full execution:

? Anchoring mechanics on rubble-pile bodies

? Microgravity material separation efficiency

? Long-term autonomous operations reliability

? Regulatory framework for asteroid manipulation

? Dust behavior in cislunar plasma environment

Explore

Community

Contribute