As humanity faces a century with growing population and simultaneously increasing energy and food necessity, the availability of resources on Earth is becoming an urging problem. The availability and usage of space resources as a possible solution for diminishing terrestrial materials is a controversially, but yet not a newly discussed topic. The project KaNaRiA (from its German acronym: ‘Kognitionsbasierte, autonome Navigation am Beispiel des Ressourcenabbaus im All’) takes up this issue and deals with the design and implementation of a simulator for an autonomous mission targeting asteroid resource extraction. In this paper, an argumentation on the motivation for mining space bodies in general and asteroids in particular is given with a literature retrospective. The KaNaRiA mission is introduced paying special attention to the mission concept and the available and eligible target asteroids. The research institutions contributing to KaNaRiA are presented together with a description of their contribution to the project according to the field of expertise. The KaNaRiA project’s kick-off took place in October 2013 and it is foreseen for a period of four years. It is financed by the German Aerospace Centre, Space Administration (DLR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) on behalf of the German Ministry of Economy and Energy (FKZ 50NA1319).    «

As humanity faces a century with growing population and simultaneously increasing energy and food necessity, the availability of resources on Earth is becoming an urging problem. The availability and usage of space resources as a possible solution for diminishing terrestrial materials is a controversially, but yet not a newly discussed topic. The project KaNaRiA (from its German acronym: ‘Kognitionsbasierte, autonome Navigation am Beispiel des Ressourcenabbaus im All’) takes up this issue a...    »