Asteroids carry the power and resources to destroy and build new worlds. Asteroid Foundation Chairman Markus Payer explains.
66 million years ago, a ten-kilometre wide chunk of space rock struck Earth. Besides leaving an epic crater in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico with a diameter that was more than twice the length of Luxembourg, that asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.
“There have since been smaller impacts but, scientists, politicians and policymakers acknowledge that part of our planetary defence strategy has to be to protect ourselves against the potential impact of an asteroid,” said Asteroid Foundation Chairman Markus Payer.
Asteroids Between Mars and Jupiter
Today, there are thought to be around one million objects in space, measuring anything from one metre to 1,000 kilometres, “largely sitting in a belt between Mars and Jupiter,” says Payer. “From time to time, some come pretty close and frighten us.”
Space agencies including NASA and ESA deploy vast amounts of resources for situational awareness of these space rocks. But in the world of science and innovation, asteroids are not only considered an existential threat. Missions like OSIRIS REx, which will return samples from the Benu asteroid in September 2023, reveal new findings about the origin of the universe. What is more they confirm that vast amounts of metals and ice are stored in these space rocks.
“This is something that Luxembourg had in mind from very early on when it went to California and first invited the Asteroid Foundation to come to Luxembourg,” explains Payer. “Luxembourg was starting to think about what at the time it called space mining and now refers to as space resources. The idea being that there is so much stuff out there, which is of an enormous value.”
Asteroid Day
On 30 June, to mark World Asteroid Day, the Luxembourg State and Asteroid Foundation will broadcast a series of talks with experts including scientists, startups and astronauts and coordinate global outreach events on themes around asteroids
Luxembourg’s 2016 Space Resources initiative, developed by the economy ministry, is today a central pillar of the Luxembourg Space Agency, which aims to develop a space ecosystem in the country. Luxembourg’s goal is to be part of the emerging space economy, at the heart of which will be asteroids. “Missions to study the composition of these objects are underway,” says Payer, who is also a consultant working with French aerospace company Ariane Group. “What we want is to create hubs in space, like the regional train system in Luxembourg. This means you don’t necessarily have to bring everything back to Earth.”
The expectation is that ice will be split to create hydrogen fuel and water while metals and minerals can be used for in-situ construction of infrastructure such as launchers. “We are talking about decades,” says Payer of the timeline to harvest space resources.
Down to Earth benefits
Luxembourg currently has more than 60 space companies and institutions with satellite constellations or connectivity technologies among the fastest growing fields, which play a pivotal role in the ‘Down to Earth’ benefits of space technologies, such as satellite television (SES), GPS (Galileo) and general connectivity and earth observation within the context of climate change. “With data from Copernicus, ESA is building a digital twin so that we can understand what to change about climate change,” says Payer, adding: “Space systems are important for that.”
Asteroid Day will bring players working in a range of fields linked to space on a single platform. At the same time, the Asteroid Foundation will visit schools in an effort to inspire young people to want to work in this field.
“You don’t necessarily have to be an astronaut to work in space, or to go to space to work in space. You can also work in the industry; in agencies and labs.”
Asteroid Day will end on Saturday 1 July with the Asteroid Day Festival, a family day hosted at Tramsschapp, 49, Rue Ermesinde, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg from 10am to 7pm.
Click here here to watch the live streaming on June 30 and July 1 or to find out more.
