The Moon may be a place “interesting” for private mining of space resources, warned on Wednesday the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner.
head of ESA reacted thus to launch by Luxembourg of an initiative that aims to entice companies to embark on the adventure of exploring the natural resources of the area, especially the asteroids.
“This is a time when the idea of going to the solar system to make perforations in search of ore is on the table” says Wörner to the French news agency AFP, stressing that “so far, the costs were too high to develop commercial activity.”
“Today, private companies are interested in doing so and well” explained the head of the ESA.
it has therefore considered this possibility as “logic” and explained that will not be made “with public money.”
“If Luxembourg, which is a member of ESA, want to support these companies, that’s good. In this sense, we will see how we can unite our strength “, he said.
” I am sure that the Moon could be an interesting place “for private activities despite the Luxembourg project refer in particular to astroides.
Since Jan Wörner took office in June last year, has been promoting the idea of a “village Lunar” multinational, which could include mining activities carried out by private companies.
“in recent years, companies have wanted to know my opinion on the possibility of mining activities in space “, said the head of the ESA, stressing: ” I have said it is a good idea, “, but also warned of the fact that ” bring minerals to Earth would take time because it is too expensive for now “.
Despite this limitation, use materials of the solar system to supply the distant space missions or build structures on the Moon” is not so far “, he said.
According to Jan Wörner,” science fiction often ends up being true. This is just the next step, “he said.
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