Luxembourg to invest $227M to mine asteroids in space–reports

Luxembourg, often described as Europe’s Singapore, said Friday it plans to invest US$227 million (P10.4 billion) in asteroid mining in space.

“We have a first budget to get started but if we need more money, we will be able to provide it,”Etienne Schneider, the country’s economy minister, said in a news conference.

Earlier in February, the tiny but wealthy European nation  unveiled its plan to be a “frontrunner” in the space mining industry as it aims to become one of the top 10 countries with the most advanced space industry. It also aspires to develop a legal framework for the exploitation of space resources, the first in Europe.

Because of the costly ambition of the country, American startup space mining companies such as Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources will be opening satellite offices in Luxembourg, according to tech news site Tech Times and business news site Forbes.

As early as 1985, Luxembourg allocated funds for the Société Européenne des Satellites, a satellite services operator, that netted 2 billion euros (P105 billion ) in 2015.

Space mining operations are being blueprinted to unearth alternative fuel sources and mine asteroids in the next three years. Gianna Francesca Catolico