20th April 2020

"Mining Station" by Emil van Dam

After a long absence, we are reviving our Future Art section! We would love to feature more pieces like this – so if you're a graphic artist, or know somebody else who's talented in this area, please get in touch via our contact page. The images we publish must be future-related.

For our latest entry, we feature Emil van Dam, a Dutch concept artist and illustrator "with an addiction to sci-fi and cyberpunk" genres. The image below depicts a figure watching spaceships going in and out of a large asteroid mining station.

While this visualisation may represent the distant future, progress in space resource utilisation can already be seen today. The first asteroid mining companies have emerged in recent years, with investment predicted to reach $3.9 billion by 2025. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order to support the extraction of space resources. A single asteroid might contain trillions of dollars' worth of metals – alongside water and other volatiles – potentially driving a gold rush in space later this century or in the 22nd century. As well as helping to ease resource shortages on Earth, this emerging industry could drive the development of many off-world colonies throughout our Solar System.

Many more images with a futuristic theme can be found on Emil van Dam's ArtStation website, so we recommend you go and check them out. He can also be followed on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. His channel includes time-lapse footage and tutorials (also featured below).

Click to enlarge

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