小行星采矿并非只属科幻：2010 年代，Deep Space Industries 与 Planetary Resources 等新创宣称可从小行星表面提取 cobalt、nickel 等元素，Planetary Resources 并获 Larry Page、Eric Schmidt、Richard Branson 等富豪支持。2022 年，AstroForge 也提出建造太空船开采 platinum 及其他金属，供地球工厂使用；Asterank 估计部分目标小行星的潜在利润可超过 100 兆美元，相比之下 SpaceX 所列 28.5 兆美元总可服务市场显得较不夸张。
然而，这些天体以每小时数千英里（数千 miles per hour，约数千公里每小时）翻滚穿越太空，且缺乏行星或月球重力，使挖掘条件极端困难。Planetary Resources 与 Deep Space Industries 均因财务和技术挑战被其他公司收购，未曾抵达另一个天体；AstroForge 则称计划于年底前与小行星会合。SpaceX 目前仍主要把自身定位为 AI 投资标的，表示未来潜在收入逾 90% 将与 AI 相关，但这仍依赖 Starship 成功部署，而该火箭已经历多次问题测试飞行。
As SpaceX shares are expected to begin trading on Nasdaq as soon as Friday, investors are studying its 277-page prospectus, which mixes numbers, graphics, and statistics with visions of uncrewed orbital factories, a permanent colony on Mars, passenger rockets between Earth cities, and asteroid mining. The Mars colony could help founder Elon Musk unlock an additional 1 billion shares, while Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen links future opportunities to terrestrial point-to-point transport, space manufacturing, productivity, and asteroid mining.
Asteroid mining is not only science fiction: in the 2010s, startups such as Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources claimed they could extract elements such as cobalt and nickel from asteroid surfaces, with Planetary Resources backed by billionaires including Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and Richard Branson. In 2022, AstroForge proposed spacecraft to mine platinum and other metals for factories on Earth; Asterank estimates some target asteroids could generate more than $100 trillion in profit, making SpaceX’s stated $28.5 trillion total addressable market look less extravagant.
However, these bodies tumble through space at thousands of miles per hour, or roughly thousands of kilometers per hour, and lack planetary or lunar gravity, making excavation extremely difficult. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries were both acquired after financial and technical challenges and never reached another celestial body; AstroForge says it plans an asteroid rendezvous by yearend. SpaceX currently presents itself mainly as an AI investment, saying more than 90% of potential future revenue will relate to AI, but that still depends on successful Starship deployment after multiple troubled test flights.