I can't implement an asteroid mining program now because the cost of space launch for the preliminary/prototype mining equipment would be prohibitively high.
If I had access to a space launch capability for less than $100/kg, however, I could bootstrap the whole business from my basement with an investment of ~$100-200k from some friends. [0]
From SpaceX's perspective, they can put ~5 tons in lunar orbit for a cost of $200k in fuel [1]. $40/kg is great, but it's not what they charge their customers, and it's not what they'd charge me - demand from comsat operators with a much higher willingness to pay means that I have no access to the market, and SpaceX needs to make a profit.
Give it 10-50 years, and I'd expect real asteroid mining will become economically viable. [2]
[0] assuming zero NRE for mining robot fabrication and a single person salary.
[1] ignoring actual launch costs, personnel salaries, and assuming the whole booster stack is paid for through infinite perfect recovery.
[2] see also Planetary Resources, and why they should be in hibernation mode, not burning $2m/year developing camera sats. but hey, VCs have money to burn.
* You can work on reducing cost of space access yourself!
* There are some good things to do in space. Look for ZBLAN fibers, for example.
It's actually interesting question, what price of space launch (per kg, when you have low or high kg) would enable entrepreneurs to do all sorts of crazy shit there
If I had access to a space launch capability for less than $100/kg, however, I could bootstrap the whole business from my basement with an investment of ~$100-200k from some friends. [0]
From SpaceX's perspective, they can put ~5 tons in lunar orbit for a cost of $200k in fuel [1]. $40/kg is great, but it's not what they charge their customers, and it's not what they'd charge me - demand from comsat operators with a much higher willingness to pay means that I have no access to the market, and SpaceX needs to make a profit.
Give it 10-50 years, and I'd expect real asteroid mining will become economically viable. [2]
[0] assuming zero NRE for mining robot fabrication and a single person salary.
[1] ignoring actual launch costs, personnel salaries, and assuming the whole booster stack is paid for through infinite perfect recovery.
[2] see also Planetary Resources, and why they should be in hibernation mode, not burning $2m/year developing camera sats. but hey, VCs have money to burn.