Some economic analyses indicate that the cost of returning asteroidal materials to Earth far outweighs their market value, and that asteroid mining will not attract private investment at current commodity prices and space transportation costs.
Did Gill really want to be a foster parent to the children relocated on Maganos, or did he secretly long for the freedom of asteroid mining?
Entrepreneurs are betting on space tourism, asteroid mining and other profit-seeking endeavors.
Though the asteroid mining has been criticized as too tedious and time-consuming, the battle sequences and graphics have received praise.
The moon and Mars aren't livable, the nearest stars are too far away for current technology, asteroid mining would be too expensive (and certainly wouldn't require a manned mission anyway).
Given the satellite's telescopic accuracy, it has been speculated that Sentinel's data may prove valuable for future missions in fields such as asteroid mining.
These include piracy, trade, military missions, bounty hunting and asteroid mining.
I lost my arm to a meteor, asteroid mining.
Moreover, they were often found only on one or two planets in a system, requiring miners to cope with the difficulties of digging them out of a planet's surface rather than the ease and convenience of asteroid mining.
The story takes place centuries in the future where asteroid mining is a major industry.