Colorado School of Mines Graduate School Insights

Asteroid mining, space mining and space resources jobs in 2021

A galactic overview of the job market for Space Resources graduates

Introduction

For students interested in space mining, a Space Resources graduate degree seems appealing. Graduate degrees in STEM offer reliability and return on your investment, but let’s drill a little deeper for those either holding advanced degrees in space resources, or those who want to. What’s the aerospace job market like? In this Graduate School Insights post, we’re talking launching into space resources job market.

Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe—The Study of Space Resources and Job Prospects

The study of space resources is actually both old and new. Old in that we’ve been studying the resources out in space since the 1950s, but new in that Mines is the first to offer a graduate degree in that field of study. That said, there are several sub-disciplines that comprise the academic study of space resources, which are nothing new. Those disciplines are:

Engineering
Economics and Policy
Remote sensing, Exploration and Resource Assessment
Resource Extraction, Material Processing and Refining
Power and Energy
Robotics, Autonomy and Communications

Engineering

We won’t dig into engineering as a discipline—rather, we’re going to discuss engineering as it relates to space resources, asteroid mining and space mining, because you can’t talk about going to space or coming back without talking about engineering.

Systems engineers in the discipline are focused on areas like spacecraft design and mission architecture that inherently rely on in situ resources utilization, or ISRU. Essentially, engineers are taught to make use of local resources in orbit and on foreign planets in order to produce sustainable galactic missions. The further we are from launch origin, the harder it is to get supplies up to astronauts—necessitating solutions devised by systems engineers.

There’s also the (necessary) business of building instrumentation and galactic vessels, which falls primarily on engineers and physicists.

Economics and Policy

Anyone know the going price of lunar iron? How about materials harvested from passing asteroids, like Ryugu? The study of economics plays a crucial role in not just assessing the value of asteroid mining and space mining, but also in justifying the cost of going up there to begin with.

Economists who involve themselves in space mining know the space business (and yes, it exists outside of NASA) in and out. They’ve got a solid understanding of economics, finance and the business issues at the heart of the industry. These economists often provide the big picture perspective to investors and CFOs at companies who are investing in the space industry. Economists look at their feet first before looking at the stars, and develop new economic models that can make space resources viable in our economy. Because yes, while science sends people to the moon, nothing gets us there faster than money.

Remote Sensing, Exploration and Resource Assessment

Mars Curiosity Rover There is a ton to unpack here, so, just like in the engineering portion of this guide, we’re going to focus on how these concepts relate to the study of Space Resources, starting with remote sensing.

Remote Sensing

Remote sensing in its simplest terms is using a selected area’s emitted radiation to monitor or detect anomalies. Some common uses for remote sensing include mapping forest fires, tracking clouds to predict weather and the discovery/mapping of the ocean floor. As it applies to space resources, remote sensing techniques are used to establish topographical layouts of distant planets tagged as being wealthy in resources. The same is also used for monitoring asteroids.

Exploration and Resource Assessment

“Exploration and resource assessment” refers to the actual act of applying geological techniques to assess a celestial body’s viability as a target for mining. This could look like studying planetary geology, data science (as it relates to planetary geology), and working with engineers to closely monitor the mining and resource development processes.

Resource Extraction, Material Processing and Refining

You can probably guess how resource extraction plays into things. This is mostly related to mining things in space – whether that’s asteroids or planets. That said, a fair bit of the mining and refining process has to take place in space or on another planet. It might be easy to blast into the surface of Mars, but extracting and refining its ores and minerals makes it easier for transport; think of it as separating the wheat from the chaff, or making sure you’re not bringing a bunch of useless space rocks back with you.

Power and Energy

Like we said earlier, nothing gets us to the moon faster than money. The other part of that phrase is “money and physics.” Because what is space travel and exploration if it’s not a beautiful physics experiment?

Physics plays an important part in not just the mechanics of launching and landing rockets or sensitive equipment, but in how that equipment functions in space or on other planets. For example, how do you power probes (usually reliant on solar power) that don’t get a lot of sunlight? Space resources graduates might suggest nuclear power. That’s where the science of heat transfer and thermodynamics comes into play.

Robotics, Autonomy and Communication

The study of Robotics plays a key role in space resources. Autonomous mining, processing, collection and retrieval is, presently, the most viable path towards opening up space mining and asteroid mining. It’s presently not feasible to send a person to Mars (yet), so the idea of sending miners up to distant bodies in meaningful numbers is a bit far-fetched. That’s why sending autonomous, robotic workers to asteroids and other planets is so enticing.

Communication is the next part in this equation. Being able to perform remote maintenance and communication tasks is crucial to the longevity of an autonomous fleet of mining vehicles.

Where Do Space Resources Graduates Work?

Ah, yes, the humble NASA engineer, or the casual rocket scientist. Where do these highly educated, highly specialized specialists find work? While the private sector does offer plenty of opportunities for professionals in space resources, it’s extremely likely that you’ll be working for or with the government. Space resources graduates often find lucrative jobs in fields like government, contracting and of course the military. There’s also a budding aerospace economy right here in Colorado.

Because Space Resources is such a varied discipline, there is no exact salary data for a “space resources officer” (though a US Army Space Operations Officer makes about $102,986 annually), so we’re going to have to get specific.

In order to better break down your job prospects, we’ll cover salaries and job titles for each field that’s involved with the study of space resources. Keep in mind that these are average salaries for 2021. Salaries scale based on location, company, and requisite experience.

With all that out of the way, let’s dive into some roles and salaries!