Business Insider reported last year that some estimates put the value of minerals on the Moon at $1 quadrillion. Others think it’s even more. One estimate says there’s $200 billion in water, $1.5 quadrillion in helium, and $2.5 trillion in metals.
What’s more, there are others that say asteroid 16 Psyche is said to have $10 quintillion worth of gold, iron, and nickel. Another, Davida, is supposed to have $27 quintillion worth.
NASA’s Artemis program is in full swing working with industry to create a complete infrastructure to shuttle equipment and people to the Moon and bring back all these valuable materials.
NASA also sees a Moon base as something that would be very valuable for sending manned missions deeper into space, since it’s much easier to launch rockets in zero or near-zero gravity than it is from Earth.
The winners are going to be numerous. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) has been working on autonomous mining and construction equipment for a decade in partnership with NASA.
Rocket companies from Blue Origin, SpaceX, to L3 Harris (NYSE: LHX), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) will be deeply involved, and so will many others as these programs develop. This isn’t pie in the sky thinking. This money in the space is reality.
