https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/1810.03836/Collected HN comments and submissions linking this paper.enMon, 02 Nov 2026 11:16:22 GMThttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44380783urn:hackerpapers:mention:1810.03836:44380783Wed, 25 Jun 2025 19:02:02 GMT<p>&gt; What resources are on asteroids that justify the energy expenditure to get from space and back? With chemical rockets, not much. With &quot;a propellant-less propulsion propulsion system such as solar sails or electric sails,&quot; bringing water (propellant) to low-earth orbit starts making sense [1], as does mining platinum, but only if &quot;the quantity of platinum from space would substitute an equal quantity of terrestrial platinum,&quot; i.e. moving heavy industry off the Earth&#x27;s surface [1]. Given asteroid-mining profitability is dominated by &quot;the throughput rate, which depends on the mining process,&quot;…</p><p><a href="https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/1810.03836/">Paper and discussion history</a>. A mention is not an endorsement.</p>physics.space-ph