Growth and Resources in Space: Pushing the Final Frontier?

Martin Stuermer, Maxwell Fleming (), Ian Lange and Sayeh Shojaeinia ()
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Maxwell Fleming: Department of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines
Sayeh Shojaeinia: Department of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines

No 2023-02, Working Papers from Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business

Abstract: Growth models with resources and environmental externalities typically assume that planet Earth is a closed economy. However, private firms like Blue Origin and SpaceX have reduced the cost of rocket launches by a factor of 20 over the last decade. What if these costs continue to decline, making mining from asteroids or the moon feasible? What would be the implications for economic growth and the environment? This paper provides stylized facts about cost trends, geology and the environmental impact of mining on Earth and potentially in space. We extend a neoclassical growth model to investigate the transition from mining on Earth to space. We find that such a transition could potentially allow for continued growth of metal use, while limiting environmental and social costs on Earth. Acknowledging the high uncertainty around the topic, our paper provides a starting point for research on how space mining could contribute to sustainable growth on Earth.

Keywords: space economics; metals; mining; growth; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E22 Q02 Q32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2023-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-env
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http://econbus-papers.mines.edu/working-papers/wp202302.pdf First version, 2023 (application/pdf)

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