The Knowledge to Decide

Does anyone own the moon? Or other planets for that matter? The prospect of mining on the moon and other celestial bodies is fast becoming a reality. In 2018, Moon Express, based in Florida, aims to be the first private entity to put a small robotic lander on the moon with an investment of approximately USD1.85 million to set up an operations room and an engineering laboratory with a firings test stand for spacecraft engines. Private space exploration is picking up. Due to ambiguities in the Outer Space Treaty, it is not clear who can profit from such business opportunities. Such ventures could exploit the fact that no international treaties apply laws to the moon. Will governments allow private space exploration and the mining of moons and planets? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/raking-in-the-moolah-through-moon-mining/

Platinum mining in space is getting cheaper and easier. Prospect probes can probably be built for tens of millions of dollars each. An asteroid-grabbing spacecraft could cost USD2.6 billion. Space mining seems more lucrative than initially thought. An asteroid the size of a football field could contain USD25 billion to USD50 billion worth of platinum. Although space mining is still not viable commercially, the possibilities are endless. Space mining could even lead to in-space manufacturing. When will space mining become a viable market for investors? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/space-mining-for-platinum-on-the-cards/

Robots are now prevalent across many industries, not only heavy manufacturing. Today’s robots are more precise and can be controlled remotely, which is why there is a preference for them over error-prone humans in some parts of the services industry. With over 179,000 industrial robots sold worldwide in 2013, robots are now set to conquer a new arena – the household. What is a robot? The first thing that comes to mind when the word robot is uttered is a machine that imitates a human being, such as the androids from Hollywood’s Star Wars or Terminator movies. The reality, though, is that the hundreds of thousands of industrial robots operating in the world resemble high-tech machinery more than high-tech humanoids. A robot is defined as a programmable, self-controlled device with electrical, electronic or mechanical units. Robots have some advantages over humans when it comes to work – they have better physical endurance and are more adept at working under uncomfortable or da

Satellites are about to change how crimes are investigated. This is not completely new. The Australian authorities have used satellites for decades, especially for cases connected to illegal logging. Satellites ensure accurate and reliable imagery, which is just what law enforcers need to secure convictions. Besides improved resolution, companies like U.K’s Satellite Applications Catapult are benefitting from the growing number of Earth observation satellites. Costs can be kept low with the availability of more data. Moreover, Catapult’s  technology  could support both space surveillance and international security as well. However, this raises the old bugbear of privacy. Can anyone now spy on anyone? Most satellites are commercially owned so you can pay for the imagery – no matter what it may be. Hence, the industry is likely to face ethical challenges over privacy if a set of standards is not established to govern satellite usage. Crime busting from space is no longer