Asteroid Mining Technology had been in use for nearly two years.
The technology was still expensive, with almost no advantage over terrestrial mining, at least for now.
However, the advantage of asteroid mining was not limited to "collecting ore." The key was that the microgravity environment was ideal for building ultra-large smelters, while abundant Solar Power further reduced energy costs.
In other words, the subsequent branch of this technology tree should be "Space Factory."
The smelters built with Osborn's Asteroid Mining Technology were still not large enough. They were merely ten-thousand-ton-class facilities and could not fully exploit the advantages of asteroid mining.
However, OIS had been coordinating the automated asteroid mining base and the microgravity laboratories aboard the space station to improve them. They had now produced blueprints for the Second-Generation Asteroid Smelter.
Taking full advantage of the fact that structures in outer space did not need to account for gravity, wind, or other factors, and using Second-Generation Alloy and construction materials combining Chitauri and Dark Elf materials, the entire smelter was enormous.
The largest design exceeded five thousand meters in height alone, with a footprint nearly equal to Stark Industries Park.
Even the least efficient smelter of this generation had reached the ten-million-ton level. Anything beyond that would require more advanced materials to support it.
The resources stored on Spirit God Star were enough to build two factories of this scale. Once the factories were proven viable, "mining bosses" would truly become history, and Precious Metal would no longer be precious.
Harry could finally make good on the promise he had made at Norman's inauguration: endless space resources were beckoning to them.
According to the contract with the United Nations Space Resources Development Agency, one smelter would belong to the United Nations, while the other would be Osborn's private