Is space trade the first step to colonisation?

The era of humanity’s presence in space is entering a new dawn. Until now we have looked to the heavens with wonder in our eyes – now it seems as though some of that wonder has been replaced with pound signs.

Two companies – Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources – are busily planning how best to extract resources from asteroids. Both say they are creating a trillion-dollar industry based on the extraction of chemical components of fuel and minerals such as platinum and gold out of the rocks.

Deep Space Industries favour a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft which it will send out into the Solar System to hunt for resources. The company would then launch bigger spacecraft for round-trip visits that bring back samples. Planetary Resources have a similar model – the first step of which is to put a series of telescopes in orbit to locate potential resource rich targets.

And if this sounds to you a little too much like science fiction then it’ll come as no surprise to learn that one of the founders of Planetary Resources is none other than film director James Cameron. But is this really a new era – is it any different from space tourism or the satellite industry?  All rely on profit. ­

Well yes, I rather think it is. For those industries the asset is space its self – either the wonderment it induces in civilians willing to pay hefty fares to experience it, or the properties and convenience of orbit. Travelling through space in order to harvest and remove resources contained within it is altogether different. And, despite many valid fears and criticisms of industrialising space, if we want to expand our horizons beyond the Earth-bound, then I think not only is it a good thing, it is a vital one. After all, we have never truly pushed back any frontiers without a powerful economic imperative – the spice routes, the gold rush – the history of exploration is the history of trade.

From camels hauling Arabian silk and spices, to maritime routes being forged to allow the transport of bulk commodities – all were driven by economics. And all allowed – indeed demanded - the formation of colonies to service these new and exotic outposts.

And so by making the first moves to retrieve a product from space are we in essence making the first realistic moves at colonising space? History, as they say, will be the judge – but I’d wager that like so many other things in human history, money will be the biggest lubrication of all – even when it comes to colonising space.