A review of space ore prospecting: a new direction for exploring mineral resources

<p indent="0mm">Space ore prospecting, as an emerging direction in mineral resource exploration, not only serves as a crucial approach to alleviating the crisis of depletion of Earth’s non-renewable resources but also provides the material foundation for sustainable deep space exploration by humanity. It has become a significant objective of deep space exploration activities for multiple countries. Based on the experience of terrestrial mineral exploration and the achievements of space exploration, humanity’s understanding of space ore prospecting has made numerous important advancements. However, space ore prospecting is still in its nascent stage, and future efforts need to focus on enhancing the fundamental theories and engineering technologies of space ore prospecting to improve exploration efficiency and reduce costs. This paper reviews the historical development and current status of international space ore prospecting, identifies regions and targets that should be prioritized or focused on in future space ore prospecting efforts, and discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by space ore prospecting, with the aim of promoting the sustainable development and utilization of space mineral resources.