Space mining is not yet a reality, but private companies and governments are increasingly turning their attention to it as a way to fuel space exploration and bring critical raw materials back to Earth. But is this practice ethical and legal?
Europe could one day start mining in space.
In September 2025, the European Commission released its annual Foresight Report, highlighting, among other points, how growing competition for critical raw materials could drive the bloc to explore space mining, starting with the Moon.
For now, space mining is just an early-stage project, one that is attracting international attention from both public institutions and private companies.
With space mining’s technology and its ethical and legal boundaries still evolving, this episode of Euronews Tech Talks explores the key questions shaping the future of this practice.
What is space mining?
Space mining is a broad term coined to describe mining in outer space in order to extract key metals, water, and gases.
The most targeted destinations for space mining are the Moon and asteroids – rocky, airless celestial bodies that are leftovers from the formation of the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago.
Moon mining is often associated with the extracted resources being used in situ, or on-site. The most valuable resource on the lunar surface is expected to be water because its chemical components, oxygen and hydrogen, could support life on the Moon and serve as rocket fuel for space exploration.
“Water is a very useful material, but it's quite a heavy one,” Ian Crawford, a professor of planetary science at the University of London, told Euronews Next.
“Lifting many kilos of water from the Earth to the Moon would be an expensive thing to do, so much better if the Moon has its own source of water,” he added.
In contrast, asteroid mining is associated with the ex-situ exploitation of resources, meaning that materials would be mined in outer space and brought back to Earth. Some asteroids may contain nickel, cobalt, and other critical raw materials that could be valuable on Earth.
“There are companies that argue that if we were to mine these so-called platinum group elements from iron asteroids, this would be worth a lot,” said Crawford.
Yet whether it’s about sustaining space exploration or meeting the demand for critical raw materials on Earth, space mining still faces challenges, both in developing the necessary technology and in determining whether the investment is worth the cost.
Is space mining an ethical practice?
Mining on Earth does not enjoy a positive reputation; rather, it poses questions and concerns worldwide due to its damaging impact on local communities and environments.
Similar questions arise for space mining, and the debate remains open.
Pierfrancesco Biasetti, a researcher and lecturer at the Summer School in Space Ethics at the University of Padua in Italy, noted that on one hand, space mining could make society wealthier and more efficient, potentially benefiting our planet and fuelling space exploration.
“But of course, as always in ethics, the devil is in the details,” he continued, explaining that each case must be analysed individually based on what type of resource is needed, how the mining will be conducted, and who will benefit from it.
Erik Persson, an associate professor of philosophy at Lund University in Sweden, added that we cannot be sure whether building mines in space will reduce mining on Earth.
“It could mean a boom for the Earth’s economy, but it would probably also mean an increased gap between those who have [access to space] and those who have not [access to space],” Persson told Euronews Next.
Is space mining legal?
Legally speaking, space mining is also tricky. According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, no nation may claim sovereignty over celestial bodies, as the legislation effectively prohibits the concept of ownership in space.
However, there are some countries, including the United States, Luxembourg, and Japan, which have passed laws to allow their countries’ private companies to extract resources in outer space.
The national laws “mostly include a clause that says this can be done within the legal responsibilities that the country adheres to from the Outer Space Treaty. So it's not really clear how exactly that's going to work,” Jill Stuart, a space law and politics expert from the London School of Economics, told Euronews Next.
Overall, the experts say technology is not yet ready for space mining operations, and neither are ethics and law.
But for Crawford, this could be an advantage: “There is a window of opportunity to try and get our act together, and develop an international regime that can deal with the utilisation of space resources according to internationally agreed principles”.