Lunch-and-Learn
Presented by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Houston Section’s astrodynamics technical committee
Technical committee Chair: Dr. Albert Allen Jackson IV
Date: Friday, December 5, 2014
Time: 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Place: NASA/JSC Gilruth Center, Coronado Room
Economics of Asteroid Mining, by Shen Ge
Asteroid mining is drawing increasing interest with the establishment of two space companies in 2012 publicly declaring their intention of mining asteroids. However, the economics model necessary to analyze the feasibility of asteroid mining initiatives has not advanced in the last decade which presents a significant challenge for these companies and future startups to attract significant investment for such capital projects. Specifically, no significant additions have been added to Mark Sonter’s net present value equation for asteroid mining since his thesis was published in 1997. This presentation serves to address both the technical and economic factors required to determine a future asteroid mining mission’s feasibility. Building upon the Sonter equation, the Ge-Satak equation introduces new variables to cover the gaps and resolves uncertainties in the previous equation.
Shen Ge is an analyst, writer, and engineer currently living in Houston, Texas – the aerospace and energy hub of the world! He has aerospace engineering degrees from Georgia Tech and Texas A&M University. Previously, he wrote for the aerospace newsletter AIAA Houston Horizons and the online blog for the solar energy company Sunmetrix. Currently, aside from working at a solar energy startup and an aerospace startup, he writes for the blog Impact Hound and the Houston Renewable Energy Group. Follow him on Twitter @shenge86.
(No arrangements are being made with the building’s caterer for this event, so meals will not be not available for purchase at this event. Brown bag lunches are not allowed, since most such meals duplicate what can be ordered by event organizers at least a week in advance from the caterer.)