Asteroid-mining and orbital processing business
Capture metal-rich asteroids, place them in a stable orbit near Earth, extract their materials with robots, and return usable metals to Earth. The concept may require a lunar base and heavy-lift reusable spacecraft.
From a16z — Why AI Demand Is Outrunning Compute Supply at 44:43
Problem: Earth-based extraction of scarce precious metals creates limits and pollution concerns; moving heavy industry into space could provide access to larger material resources away from Earth.
For: Industrial and commodity markets needing gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals.
Products from this video
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Examples
- Asteroid Psyche: named as an example of an asteroid believed by the speakers to contain gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals.