Asteroid Mining Mission Trade Study

Choosing which asteroid to mine is fundamentally an orbital-mechanics and economics problem before it is ever a drilling problem. This simulator runs a real Hohmann-transfer delta-v calculation between Earth's orbit and three representative target asteroids (a near, carbon-rich Ryugu-type; a mid-distance, silicate-metal Eros-type; and a far, metal-rich Psyche-type), sizes the round-trip propellant load with the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation for either a chemical or an ion propulsion system, and prices the mission against the value of the ore actually brought home. Change the payload size and watch return-leg propellant costs eat into the profit margin, or switch propulsion systems to see why real deep-space mining precursor missions favor slow, efficient ion engines over fast, thirsty chemical ones.