Handbook

In-situ space resources utilisation (ISRU) also means space mining is possibly one of the most world-changing ideas and the focus so far has been on solving the engineering challenges. Many scientists agree that, soon, opportunities will include the mining of off-earth bodies such as asteroids, comets, the Moon, Mars and Mars’ moons, which represent the most distant supplies of wealth that humankind has ever thought of recovering. Humans travelling to deep space for a permanent presence (colonisation) will need to generate their products with local materials, known as ISRU, therefore, space settlement will need to achieve ISRU first. Space Mining operations will have to operate autonomously or be teleoperated from a base space station, mother spacecraft in orbit or directly from the Earth. The uncertainties and challenges are significant and must be overcome to develop the required knowledge. Mining knowledge, therefore, will be essential to successfully achieve ISRU operations beyond Earth; and engineers will require different and/or new skills.

In this course, students will be taken through the engineering lifecycle of new technologies and encouraged to think about how their unique skills can be applied to these projects. The course aims to provide information on space resources, develop a knowledge of technical and business risks and develop a scoping study for space mining operations. The course will be in short course format (5 days) including a series of lectures from research and industry experts, tutorials, and individual and group projects.