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Business Daily: Space: The final frontier

12/03/2013

Space: The final frontier

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Space: The final frontier

Astronomical rocks could be worth astronomical prices - if only we knew how to mine them.

From asteroid mines to moonbases, companies are already busy working out how to turn a profit on extra-terrestrial assets. But the question remains, can anyone actually own them?

The sky is no longer the limit in Business Daily, as we take to the cosmos to chart what might be a new space race. We speak to Chris Lewicki, President of Planetary Resources, a company that's aiming to exploit the billions of dollars worth of water and minerals locked into near-Earth asteroids. But, given the challenges of getting up there, and getting the stuff back, is asteroid-mining anywhere near feasible? 

Meanwhile the European Space Agency is funding a UK architecture firm to design a permanent habitable moonbase. We hear from the lead designer at Fosters and Partners in London, Xavier de Kestelier. And we hear from Professor Said Mostesher, director of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law, as to whether anyone is allowed to stake a claim to these astronomical assets.

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