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> relatively pure platinum might do it the question for that is how much you would have to get to cover your fixed costs. Still, deorbiting stuff in a control

by rmtech 7y ago

> relatively pure platinum might do it the question for that is how much you would have to get to cover your fixed costs. Still, deorbiting stuff in a controlled way is going to require something to be sent up - some reentry vehicle. And getting the reentry vehicle up there is expensive. If that reentry vehicle gets used up it will certainly wipe out your profit. 1 ton of platinum is $25,000,000... but a reentry vehicle plus launch costs is definitely more expensive than that. Maybe some modern day space shuttle system that was fully reusable would work. Perhaps it could be a revenue generator for SpaceX's Starship on the way back from Mars?

mdorazio 7y ago
Check your launch costs - they've come down a lot since SpaceX got their rockets going. You can get a reusable Falcon 9 for about $60M and it'll put 5.5 metric tons in geostationary transfer orbit, or significantly more mass in your choice of low earth orbit. A return capsule for metal/rocks pretty much just needs to be a heat shield on the front of a dumpster with some parachutes, so not very heavy. And an imperial ton of platinum would only be roughly half a cubic meter (surprisingly small, but platinum is dense), so volume isn't exactly an issue, either. If you had the asteroid in orbit already and in-orbit mining + refining, getting the metals back down would be profitable.
- rmtech 7y ago
  > A return capsule for metal/rocks pretty much just needs to be a heat shield on the front of a dumpster with some parachutes, so not very heavy. The problem is that "just" a cargo return capsule would still be very expensive because everything in aerospace is very expensive. And there would be fixed costs running into many millions. I think if the scale of the operation was big you could turn a profit at current prices. But a large scale operation would affect the price. Also having a lump of platinum conveniently parked in LEO is kind of easy mode. If you have to get from somewhere then you're looking at an interplanetary mission, and the cost goes way up. Again it would be profitable at scale... but the price would be affected. At some point I think there's a crossover.

by rmtech 7y ago

mdorazio 7y ago

Check your launch costs - they've come down a lot since SpaceX got their rockets going. You can get a reusable Falcon 9 for about $60M and it'll put 5.5 metric tons in geostationary transfer orbit, or significantly more mass in your choice of low earth orbit. A return capsule for metal/rocks pretty much just needs to be a heat shield on the front of a dumpster with some parachutes, so not very heavy. And an imperial ton of platinum would only be roughly half a cubic meter (surprisingly small, but platinum is dense), so volume isn't exactly an issue, either. If you had the asteroid in orbit already and in-orbit mining + refining, getting the metals back down would be profitable.

rmtech 7y ago
> A return capsule for metal/rocks pretty much just needs to be a heat shield on the front of a dumpster with some parachutes, so not very heavy. The problem is that "just" a cargo return capsule would still be very expensive because everything in aerospace is very expensive. And there would be fixed costs running into many millions. I think if the scale of the operation was big you could turn a profit at current prices. But a large scale operation would affect the price. Also having a lump of platinum conveniently parked in LEO is kind of easy mode. If you have to get from somewhere then you're looking at an interplanetary mission, and the cost goes way up. Again it would be profitable at scale... but the price would be affected. At some point I think there's a crossover.