Speaking at a forum of the China Society of Astronautics on Aug. 19, navigation and gyroscopes expert Wang Wei addressed the possibilities of using deep space resources for continuing human existence. He remarked that 122 near-Earth asteroids are available for mining, and described that space scientists in China have proposed a preliminary road map for the country to build a space resources system spanning the Solar System by 2100, according to a feature in South China Morning Post today.
Wang said that with the rapid advancement of space technologies, the economic exploitation of space resources could soon go from the Earth-Moon system to deep space, and could play a key role in economic competition between nations.
Their initiative, named after Ming dynasty scientist Song Yingxing’s work, Tiangong Kaiwu, or The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, will boost the global space economy and help China leapfrog developments. “Just like the miracles created in the great age of navigation, a ‘great space age’ featuring the use of space resources will … create the next miracles in human history and bring new prosperity to our civilization,” he said, according to the state-owned China Space News.
