<p>A private Beijing company, Origin Space is set to send out the world’s first mining robot into space by November 2020, <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/china-to-launch-space-mining-bot">IEEE Specturm</a> reported.</p>.<p>Termed as an ‘asteroid mining robot’, the robot is not going to do any actual mining. The mission is a preliminary assessment of the robot’s capabilities of identifying and extracting valuable resources.</p>.<p>‘The goal is to verify and demonstrate multiple functions such as spacecraft orbital manoeuvre, simulated small celestial body capture, intelligent spacecraft identification and control,’ Yu Tianhong, an Origin Space co-founder, told the US science magazine.</p>.<p>It being the first space-mining robot produced by a commercial company in the world, the mission will be a milestone for the space resources industry, the firm added.</p>.<p>The Chinese company also has another mission, Yuanwang-1 (‘Look up-1’), nicknamed ‘Little Hubble’, which is slated to be launched by late 2021 or early 2022.</p>.<p>However, experts have warned that the solar system needs to be left alone and protected from an impending rush of space mining efforts. A space ‘gold rush’ could leave humanity in a resource catastrophe in centuries, they warned.</p>.<p>Earlier, even NASA had announced that it would be buying ‘moon rocks’ from private companies in the future.</p>
<p>A private Beijing company, Origin Space is set to send out the world’s first mining robot into space by November 2020, <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/china-to-launch-space-mining-bot">IEEE Specturm</a> reported.</p>.<p>Termed as an ‘asteroid mining robot’, the robot is not going to do any actual mining. The mission is a preliminary assessment of the robot’s capabilities of identifying and extracting valuable resources.</p>.<p>‘The goal is to verify and demonstrate multiple functions such as spacecraft orbital manoeuvre, simulated small celestial body capture, intelligent spacecraft identification and control,’ Yu Tianhong, an Origin Space co-founder, told the US science magazine.</p>.<p>It being the first space-mining robot produced by a commercial company in the world, the mission will be a milestone for the space resources industry, the firm added.</p>.<p>The Chinese company also has another mission, Yuanwang-1 (‘Look up-1’), nicknamed ‘Little Hubble’, which is slated to be launched by late 2021 or early 2022.</p>.<p>However, experts have warned that the solar system needs to be left alone and protected from an impending rush of space mining efforts. A space ‘gold rush’ could leave humanity in a resource catastrophe in centuries, they warned.</p>.<p>Earlier, even NASA had announced that it would be buying ‘moon rocks’ from private companies in the future.</p>
