Environmental Considerations of Space Resource Extraction

As humanity's desire to travel deeper into space and create settlements on other celestial bodies grows, so too does the need for extracting resources from space. The Moon, Mars and asteroids all contain important resources that could assist in these activities, as well as resources that are growing increasingly scarce on Earth. With innovations in space launches continuing to reduce the cost of space travel, it is likely that some form of space resource extraction and utilisation will become a reality within the next decade. Like many human activities, space resource extraction will have an impact on the environment, not only on Earth, but also in space. However, unlike on Earth, we have the opportunity and means to understand, monitor, and ameliorate these impacts right from the outset of these projects. This thesis explores a range of considerations related to the potential impacts, both positive and negative, of space resource extraction on the environment, as well as the social and economic implications for the people of Earth. This thesis identifies some of the prospective environmental benefits of extracting resources from space. Humankind is collectively working towards achieving the goal of sustainable development, which is centred on caring for the environment and reducing social and economic inequalities, whilst also aiming for intergenerational equality. This thesis explores the potential role of space resources in achieving sustainable development, by identifying and investigating the interlinked environmental, social and socio-economic impacts of space resource extraction. From this work, a number of recommendations for a sustainable space resource extraction framework were detailed, with emphasis placed on practices that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Key to achieving sustainable development is addressing climate change, which will require a large increase in the uptake of renewable energy and energy storage technologies. An often overlooked aspect of this increasing demand is the concomitant increase in the demand for the mineral resources used to manufacture these technologies. This thesis identifies a number of these mineral resources that have high-risk supply chains which threaten their production, due to a range of economic, geological, social and geopolitical factors. The potential for extracting these high-risk mineral resources from extraterrestrial bodies is evaluated, based on concentrations from representative meteorite samples. Metal rich asteroids, in particular, have high abundances of important resources including platinum, selenium, and gallium, while also being a potential source of silver, indium, and tellurium, which are all found in moderate abundances. This is the first study to explore the potential of space resources in the global transition to renewable energy, highlighting the potential environmental benefits that could result from the utilisation of space resources on Earth. This research also considers more direct environmental impacts that could result from space resource extraction. The number of space launches per year and the number of providers with launch capabilities are both growing rapidly. Furthermore, numerous space launches from Earth will be required to facilitate the move to resource extraction in space, at least in the early stages. This thesis explores the ways in which space launches impact Earth's environment. An extensive review of a wide variety of sources including academic literature and reports by governments, intergovernmental agencies and space agencies was undertaken to identify the key environmental impacts and their biggest contributors. From this, it was determined that the nature of the environmental impacts resulting from space launches are largely dependent on the type of propellant used, although the contribution to climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion are the most pressing environmental concerns. Areas that require further study on the environmental impact of rocket emissions were identified, particularly the absence of studies on the cumulative impacts of frequent space launches. This work is the first comprehensive review on the environmental impact of rocket emissions, and as such represents a significant contribution to the literature on this topic. As resource extraction moves beyond Earth's environment, it is also important to consider how the extraction of space resources might impact the extraterrestrial environment, and how these impacts could be managed. In this thesis, potential extraterrestrial environmental impacts resulting from the various stages of a space resource extraction operation are identified, and an extraterrestrial environmental impact assessment framework is proposed to address these potential impacts. The framework provides a means for decision makers to identify, quantify, and evaluate the environmental impacts of space resource extraction proposals, and provides a basis for comparison between different proposals for extracting the same commodity.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Creech, Jessica

• space resources
• anzsrc-for: 4019 Resources engineering and extractive metallurgy

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY 4.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/23908

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/100218