The Future Is Stellar: How Asteroid Mining Can Resolve the Climate Crisis, Expand the Economy, and Ensure the United States Retains Its Dominance in Astropolitics

Asteroid mining is a tangible opportunity that the United States should actively pursue to mitigate climate change, the environmental destruction from terrestrial mining and attendant human rights abuses, leapfrog technological advancement and jumpstart its economy. 

While there are inherent risks and challenges, including navigating ambiguous international law, current geopolitical tensions, technological deficits and mitigating space debris and collisions, they can be addressed by and inform policy that promotes and protects a domestic industry. Asteroid mining is also instrumental in building a space-to-space supply chain, allowing for further space exploration and settlement- and ensuring that the United States is not left behind in the new space race.