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The Luxembourg Government announced a series of measures on Feb. 3 that will boost asteroid mining and the visionary use of space resources, according to a statement from the country’s Ministry of the Economy. It’s the stuff of George Lucas, Jules Verne and James Cameron. Yes, James Cameron, the film director of Titanic, The Terminator and Avatar, among other Hollywood blockbusters — and who’s also backing a company called Planetary Resources Inc. In early-2012, Seattle-based Planetary Resources revealed that it planned to mine asteroids for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. Asteroids can contain iron, nickel, cobalt, water and platinum group metals (PGMs), often in significantly higher concentration than found in mines on Earth, noted the company. “We commend the Government of Luxembourg in leading the world by establishing this new resource industry, thereby enabling the economic development of near-Earth asteroid resources,” said Chris Lewicki, president and CEO of Planetary Resources, who added that his company “looks forward to working with Luxembourg.” Lewicki was closely involved with the lifecycle of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix Mars Lander. Among the key steps, as part of Luxembourg’s spaceresources.lu initiative, “will be the development of a legal and regulatory framework confirming certainty about the future ownership of minerals extracted in space from Near Earth Objects (NEOs) such as asteroids.” The mission “is to open access to a wealth of previously unexplored mineral resources on lifeless rocks hurling through space, without damaging natural habitats,” said Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy. “We will support the long-term economic development of new, innovative activities in the space and satellite industries as a key high-tech sector for Luxembourg.” Luxembourg already has a track record in related sectors, with satellite operator SES, established in in the country 30 years ago and now a major global player in its field. Targeting liftoff for platinum According Planetary Resources, a single 500-meter asteroid may contain the equivalent of all the platinum group metals mined in history. “Because PGMs are ‘iron loving’, when the Earth formed, they all gravitated towards the core,” Planetary Resources explains on its website. “As a result, platinum does no...