Water is the most valuable thing in space, not gold, not platinum, not any rare metal — because water can be split into rocket fuel anywhere sunlight reaches, which means the first company to mine it

Key Points:

• Water, not precious metals like platinum, is considered the most valuable resource for space mining due to its potential use as rocket propellant, breathable oxygen, drinking water, and radiation shielding in space.
• Water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, which are key components of rocket fuel, enabling spacecraft to refuel in orbit or cislunar space and avoid the high costs of launching fuel from Earth’s gravity well.
• The main challenge is economic viability, as building and maintaining propellant depots in space requires expensive technology, and the current cost of launching fuel from Earth remains competitive, compounded by the lack of a robust deep-space economy.
• Near-term efforts focus on extracting water ice from the Moon’s polar craters, supported by NASA’s Artemis program, while asteroid mining for water and metals continues cautiously with companies exploring various extraction methods.
• The success of space water mining hinges on whether propellant can be produced and sold in space at a lower cost than launching it from Earth, a milestone yet to be achieved.