Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. The main field of study must be in science/engineering.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• identify and characterize the occurrence and distribution of the most well-known natural resources in the Solar system
• evaluate the potential of different methods for mapping extra-terrestial natural resources 
• explain and critically assess technology and infrastructure necessary for recovery of resouces
• summarise and discuss economic, legal, and environmental issues related to extraterrestial exploitation and handling of natural resources

Content

Overview of space resources and knowledge about available natural resources in the solar system. General introduction to natural resources, how they are formed and society's future needs. Emphasis will be placed on valuable metal resources such as rare earth elements (REEs), cobalt, platina group metals (PGMs) and similar with importance and expected increasing demand in the future society. Detailed overviews of extraterrestrial resources, remote sensing of asteroids and celestial bodies to determine their composition. Celest mechanics and space physics applied to exploitation. Overview of technology related to transport, extraction and processing of space resources. Discussions about economic and technical possibilities, sociopolitical factors around space infrastructure that can be used to extract space resources.

Instruction

Lectures, project work, practical exercises, and seminars. Participation in seminars is mandatory.

Assessment

Active participation in exercises/seminars (2 hp), individually written project report with oral presentation and opposition (3 hp)

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.