If in space will start a new gold rush, Luxembourg wants to become a new California. A small but rich country in Western Europe yesterday announced plans to develop a set of legal and financial measures to stimulate the development of the industry of resource extraction on asteroids.
Some asteroids contain valuable metals such as gold and platinum, and the Moon and other celestial bodies contain water, which can be turned into rocket fuel. In 2015 the world’s first law allowing private companies to mine resources in space. Luxembourg will also create such a regulatory framework, and will also begin to invest in research and development of technologies of extraction of resources in space that are still in their infancy.
“We will support long-term economic development of new innovative activities in space, because we consider them critical high-tech sector for Luxembourg, said the Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider. — Our primary goal is to begin research in this area that later will lead to a more concrete action in space”.
Luxembourg has already begun work with representatives of American, European and Chinese companies interested in the extraction of resources in space.