Saturday, July 19, 2025

Artificially intelligent quantum-entangled robots in outer space

Two robot astronauts on Mars the red planet

Our need to communicate, eat and drink, clothe ourselves, and move about, and our desire for comfort and convenience, has transformed the world with manufacturing, tools, and invention. Consequently, the natural world has shrunk. Supply chains cover the earth transporting food and raw materials, land is cleared and leveled, used goods are sent to poorer countries to be dumped, and more energy and materials must be extracted from the earth and refined. Forests are cut down, oceans and rivers are polluted with toxic waste, the planet warms, and wild animals go extinct.

New ways to automate and conserve human energy has created a metaphysical hierarchy of tools, goods, and services, where tools are goods and services, and vice versa. This is our modern civilization, because civilization is technology. Technology evolves and life is changed radically from a year, decade, and century ago. Primitive sharpened stones were made by hand by an ancestor of home sapiens. A few million years later, thousands of copies of cars, computers, ball bearings, cell phones, and many other things are made every day.

Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Robot, and Spaceflight technologies have advanced to a stage where extracting minerals from relatively nearby objects in our solar system, asteroids, moons, and Mars, is feasible within a few decades. Extraterrestrial mining in theory could move at least one harmful, but crucial for twenty-first century civilization, activity off-world, reducing the rampant world-wide extraction and distribution of minerals. The Apple iPhone, for example, is composed of about seventy elements on the periodic table. Obtaining these raw materials today requires a supply chain that spans forty-three countries on six continents. Reducing the size and scope of this chain could help save the environment from its predictable collapse.

Global E-waste Flows (2019), The Global E-waste Monitor

Rare earth elements (REEs) in the iPhone and electric car batteries have useful magnetic and conductive properties. They are mined mostly in China, but opening new mines is in progress in North America and elsewhere. While the market waits years for these mines to become productive prices rise. Certain critical REEs, like Neodymium, are currently prohibitively expensive to mine. Others, like Indium, are dependent on mining other metals. But there is evidence that critical and endangered metals are plentiful in outer space.

Ranking Impact per kg
primary metals		 Impact global production
primary metals
1 Palladium Iron
2 Rhodium Chromium
3 Platinum Aluminium
4 Gold Nickel
5 Mercury Copper
6 Uranium Palladium
7 Silver Gold
8 Indium Zinc
9 Gallium Uranium
10 Nickel Silicon
"Ranking of metals according to their impact per kg (left) and to their contribution to total environmental impact (right). Source: adapted from UNEP (2010). Diverse types of environmental impact are considered. For fair assessment when comparing the environmental performance of different raw materials, it should be taken into account that very different quantities of alternative materials may meet the same function."
Source: Table 5.1: Priority list of metals based on environmental impacts

There are obvious hurdles to overcome before reaching the minerals in outer space, and extracting and returning them to Earth becomes a reality. It is a daunting project, a huge and highly risky investment that promises trillions of dollars in return. A mining infrastructure must be built in space at a scale that can deliver minerals to Earth in large quantities and at a reasonable cost. The infrastructure must itself be built primarily from materials found in outer space. The first step is a survey of the size, composition, and location of candidate asteroids and moons, beginning with near-Earth asteroids and our Moon.

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) can pass inside Mar's orbit and are at a maximum distance of 1.3 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, or 1.3 X 93 = ~121 million miles. There are three types of NEOs. The Amors are the farthest away and don't cross Earth's path. The Apollo and Aten asteroids both cross Earth's path, with the Aten asteroids the closest on average. The composition of these AAAOs varies widely and identifying the best candidates has been unreliable, but has been getting better.

Over 33,000 near-Earth asteroids have been detected since 1990

Spectroscopic analyses of NEOs will narrow down the list of candidates. The next step is to visit a candidate with a small spacecraft. Lockheed Martin has its Curio spacecraft and NASA a Small Spacecraft Technology Plan. The craft should be resusable, not too expensive to launch, and capable of traveling to asteroids and returning to a station near Earth for repairs. And there must be enough energy and computing power onboard for conducting complex tasks.

Price of launching one kilogram of payload mass to LEO as part of a dedicated launch (FY21$/kg denotes estimates using dollar values in fiscal year 2021). LEO is the region between 100 and 2,000 km above mean sea level. Source: authors’ calculations (12).

Asteroid mining has many moving and stationary parts. How everything will work together is speculation and nost of the parts are either under development or in the lab. For now, let's imagine a spacecraft powered by a nuclear reactor landing in a small crater in the shadow of the sun, after stopping the asteroid's rotation. The craft has crew of three or four robots, a hybrid quantum-classical digital computer, and quantum sensors. The onboard computer is encased in titanium to shield it from cosmic and solar radiation, protected from vibration, and cooled about 4° C degrees colder than outer space, -273.14 to -273.15° C.

Ideally, the onboard computer wouldn't be necessary. Each robot would have its own quantum computer brain enclosed within a titanium skull. Their computing power would combine to make decisions collectively and run their own simulations when an unexpected problem is encountered. But I don't know if the quantum computer will be small enough or how much energy it will require. Miniaturization of its components is inevitable. The story of the vacuum cleaner is one example of a technology that became smaller to be more convenient. But quantum computing has major issues that must first be resolved.

The robots have minimal human guidance in outer space. It takes minutes for a radio signal to reach a near-earth asteroid from earth, how many minutes depending on the relative orbital positions of the earth and asteroid. If something unexpected occurs in the middle of a operation, like a solar flare, there won't be enough time for humans to intervene. The robots and onboard computer decide what to do on their own.

A collective Large Behavior Model (LBM) tailored for industrial mining guides decision making. Both the onboard computer and the robots have radios for classical communication and laser optical terminals capable of receiving and transmitting single photons. Each emitted photon is one of a quantum entangled pair created by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Transmission and reception of entangled photons between the quantum computer and each robot exchanges a quantum key. This is quantum key distribution (QKD) entangling the computer and robots in a secure quantum communication network. The robots wear space suits to protect moving parts from abrasive dust. Their optical terminals align with the onboard computer's optical terminal.

The onboard computer issues a command to deploy quantum LIDAR sensors to map the uneven terrain. The purpose of the mapping is to prepare the robots for their collaborative work and refine the steps they will perform, and to locate ice. NVIDIA has what it calls a digital twin that creates a virtual simulation of the entire environment. The computer builds a its own simulation dynamically from the quantum LIDAR data. The robots already had reinforcement and supervised training to help them learn to adapt to various terrains, including training in a crater on the Moon.

Quantum magnetometer and gravimeter sensors are deployed and operated by the robots to measure minute variations in magnetism and gravity on the surface of the asteroid. The computer analyzes the data from the sensors to determine whether within the interior there are enough critical metals that will return a orofit back on Earth. If there is enough water but not critical metals, the water is gathered to make rocket fuel and the craft takes off for the next asteroid.

Optical Mining concept and demonstration. Source: Demonstration of "Optical Mining" For Excavation of Asteroids and Production of Mission Consumables

If enough critical metals are found within the asteroid, preparations are made to begin mining. A responsible, cost-effective way to extract the metals without gravity to assist is a hard problem. Smaller asteroids are mostly rubble on the outside which is relatively easy to remove by optical mining.

The stabilized small asteroid is enclosed in a gigantic inflatable bag. A lens and mirror system directs concentrated sunlight to vaporize the ice and outer silicate material. What remains is the inner metallic core and water vapor. The collected water vapor and inner metallic core are returned to Earth. Optical mining of asteroids about the size of a football field or smaller doesn't need robots or a super-sophisticated computer. It must be sophisticated enough to carry out its mining operation without human intervention.

Let's continue hand waving for larger asteroids. Surface ice is heated and the vapor is collected within an enclosed area. The asteroid is then broken up into manageable pieces. Optical mining is employed to focus concentrated light on fault lines. The extracted metal ore is put into a gigantic inflatable bag. A small rocket attached to the bag contains the fuel made from collected water vapor. The bag is launched towards a refinement station circling the moon.

The non-metallic pieces and glassy surface dust could be disposed by putting into a second bag. This bag could be launched to fall into the sun or towards the Earth or Mars to merge with other bags of debris and become another moon. Or the bag could be left where it is, its last position marked on a map to share with prospectors. Or the dust grains and debris is left alone, where the asteroid used to be. Someday we might find intelligent life on a planet orbiting a remote star by the unusual amount of dust and debris enveloping the star.

Satellites orbiting the earth was described in fiction back in 1869. In 1945, science fiction author Arthur C. Clark proposed geostationary satellites for communication. In 1957, twelve years later, the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was launched into orbit. In 2011, after launching satellites into orbit for over fifty years, over 20,000 objects orbiting the Earth were being tracked. The number of small bits of debris, ranging in size from a few millimeters to a few meters, orbiting at an altitude from about 435 miles/700 km to 800 miles/1,300 km, is probably in the millions. Something to think about before we begin to seriously attempt to extract minerals in outer space.

Dust Devil photographed by the Mars Curiosity Rover

Humans should not mine asteroids or banish themselves to an inhospitable lonely dead planet. Humans are too fragile and won't survive. The health of our brains, eys, heart, bones and muscles depend on Earth's gravity. We depend on Earth's magnetic field to shield us from solar and cosmic ray radiation, and on Earth's atmosphere to breath and its temperatures that don't instantly freeze us to death. Thinking robots are the projection of human consciousness into outer space that may someday keep humanity alive.

The Planetary Resources Company, formed originally in 2009 as Akryd Astronautics, planned to mine asteroids with the help of robots. They began by building a series of low-cost satellite telescopes which would conduct a survey of NEOs. After some failures and a little sucess, they ran of funding, were bought by another company, and their work was abandoned.

Deep Space Industries (DSI), at one time a Planetary Resources competitor, was deveoping low-cost spacecraft to sell to private companies and NASA. These craft would be primarily used for asteroid prospecting. DSI was bought by Bradford Space but as of 2021 at least one of its projects, Comet electrothermal propulsion, has continued in Luxembourg. Planetary Resources and DSI failed because of how difficult it is to build a low-cost extraterrestrial mining business. The industry needs long-term support that is able to look past initial failures. This may mean some form of government sponsorship.

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept. One we are unwilling to postpone. And therefore, as we set sail, we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure that man has ever gone."    -- President John F. Kennedy

Last updated July 27, 2025

References

Creative Commons

MidJourney

  • MidJourney
    Two robots on Mars picture created with MidJourney and edited with Photoshop.

History of Technology

The Case for Extraterrestrial Mining

What are Asteroids?

  • Suzy Stewart, Asteroid Belt Facts
    The Planets
  • James Schombert, Near-Earth Asteroids
    University of Oregon, Department of Physics
  • Juan A. Sanchez, Vishnu Reddy, William F. Bottke, Adam Battle, Benjamin Sharkey, Theodore Kareta, Neil Pearson and David C. Cantillo, Physical Characterization of Metal-rich Near-Earth Asteroids 6178 (1986 DA) and 2016 ED85
    The Planetary Science Journal, Volume 2, Number 5.
    Published 2021 October 1 • © 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
  • John Walker, Solar System Live
    Fourmilab, February and March, 1995
    "Welcome to Solar System Live, the interactive Orrery of the Web. You can view the entire Solar System, or just the inner planets (through the orbit of Mars)."

Is Asteroid Mining Possible?

The Cost of Launching Payloads into Space

How cold is space?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robots in Outer Space

  • Mackenzie Ferguson, AI Tools Researcher & Implementation Consultant, Humans vs. Robots: The Ultimate Showdown in Space Exploration
    Opentools.ai, Last updated: January 1, 2025
    "Despite the rising capabilities of robotics, challenges in deploying AI in space remain, primarily due to technical and logistical constraints like processing power and energy requirements. Nonetheless, the continuous improvement in AI technology holds promise for expanding its applications, enabling more sophisticated autonomous decision-making and even supporting human teams in space missions."
  • Anjali Roy, edited by Alena Radziukevich, AI-powered robots supporting sustainable space exploration
    AI for Good
  • John Sanford, New center harnesses AI to advance autonomous exploration of outer space
    Stanford Engineering, Stanford University, June 18, 2024
    "Researchers at the Center for AEroSpace Autonomy Research, or CAESAR, say that AI could, among other things, optimize spacecraft navigation, enhance the performance of planetary rovers, and keep tabs on the space junk orbiting Earth."
  • The European Space Agency (ESA), Artificial intelligence in space
    Last updated August 3, 2023

Quantum Computing and Robotics

  • IBM Quantum Learning, Quantum computing in practice
    IBM Quantum Platform
    "This course focuses on today's quantum computers and how to use them to their full potential. It covers realistic potential use cases for quantum computing as well as best practices for running and experimenting with quantum processors having 100 or more qubits."
  • Katherine Wright, edited by Mark Fischetti, What’s a Qubit? 3 Ways Scientists Build Quantum Computers
    Scientific American, "originally published with the title “What's a Qubit?” in SA Special Editions Vol. 34 No. 2s (June 2025), p. 102"
    "A complete quantum computing system could be as large as a two-car garage when one factors in all the paraphernalia required for smooth operation. But the entire processing unit, made of qubits, would barely cover the tip of your finger."
  • Charlie Wood, Physicists Use Quantum Mechanics to Pull Energy out of Nothing
    Quanta Magazine, February 22, 2023
    "The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works."
  • Yan, F., Iliyasu, A.M., Li, N. et al., Quantum robotics: a review of emerging trends
    Quantum Machine Intelligence, Volume 6, article number 86, (2024), Published November 28, 2024
  • Media ATN, Quantum Key Distribution
    Alter Technology, November 7. 2022
  • Javier Alejandro de la Osa Fernandez, Entangled Photon Sources For Quantum Communications
    Alter Technology, December 14, 2022
    "Alter Technology is the prime contractor of a consortium for developing a compact, robust, and reliable Quantum Photonic Transceiver (QPT) capable of generating and detecting secure encrypted keys for its use in space communications under the frame of the ARTES program."
  • Sandra Bloom, What is Quantum Sensing, and How Does it Work?
    Scientific Origin, October 24, 2024
  • Marin Ivezic, Quantum LiDAR vs. Quantum Radar
    POSTQUANTUM, October 18, 2023
    "And in the realm of communications, while not exactly LiDAR, the same quantum LiDAR hardware might double as a quantum communications device (since entangled photons can be used for ultra-secure communication when not used for sensing). This points toward hybrid systems in the future that do both sensing and communication with quantum states of light."
  • Liu, H., Qin, C., Papangelakis, G. et al., Compact all-fiber quantum-inspired LiDAR with over 100 dB noise rejection and single photon sensitivity
    Nature Communications, published September 2 2023, Nat Commun 14, 5344 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40914-6
  • Aayushi Jain, Quantum Computing and Its Applications in Robotics
    Analytics Insight, August 19, 2024
    "Many problems in robotics are reduced to the solving of formidable optimization problems, such as pathfinding, scheduling, and resource allocation. Examples include determining the most effective path for an autonomous robot to move in a changing environment and scheduling specific actions with other robots. Generally, quantum computing solves these types of problems much better than classical computing because quantum algorithms explore numerous solutions simultaneously."
  • Farbod Khoshnoud, Ibrahim I. Esat, Clarence W. de Silva, and Marco B. Quadrelli, Quantum Network of Cooperative Unmanned Autonomous Systems
    Unmanned Systems, Vol. 07, No. 02, pp. 137-145 (2019),
    "This paper investigates collaborative robotic tasks of unmanned systems in a network where the agents are entangled. For instance, a leader robot sends two identical photons (e.g. with vertical polarization) to two follower robots/autonomous vehicles to communicate information about various tasks such as swarm, formation, trajectory tracking, path following and collaborative tasks. The potential advantages of quantum cooperation of robotic agents is the speed of the process, the ability to achieve security with immunity against cyberattacks, and fault tolerance, through entanglement. If a Quantum Network is implemented in a robotic application, it would present an effective solution; for example, for a group of unmanned systems working securely together."
  • Brooke Becher, What is Swarm Intelligence?
    builtin, July 03, 2025
  • Matt O'Dowd, host, Quantum Energy Teleportation is REAL!
    PBS Space Time, May 1, 2025
    "The vacuum of space is a chaotic sea of quantum fluctuations. Some have said that this vacuum energy can be harvested to build our future starship engines, or manipulated to build warp drives. It can't. But it is technically possible to move real energy through the quantum vacuum without it passing through intervening space. Quantum energy teleportation may be as close as we get to transporter beams. But how close is that?"
  • Matt Swayne, What is Quantum Robotics? Researchers Report The Convergence of Quantum Computing And AI Could Lead to Qubots
    Quantum Insider, May 9, 2025
    "Quantum robotics uses quantum computing principles — such as superposition, entanglement, and quantum algorithms — to tackle challenges that traditional robots face. These include processing vast sensory data, meeting real-time response needs and enabling cognitive and emotional functions that mimic human intelligence. Unlike classical systems, quantum robots — or “qubots” — leverage the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics to expand the scope and capability of robotics."
  • Beer, K., Bondarenko, D., Farrelly, T. et al., Training deep quantum neural networks
    nature communications 11, Article number: 808 (2020), Published February 10, 2020
  • Farbod Khoshnoud. Lucas Lamata, Clarence W. de Silva, Marco B. Quadrelli, Quantum Teleportation for Control of Dynamical Systems and Autonomy
    Instructions for Preparing LREC 2006 Proceedings
    "A review of Quantum Multibody Dynamics, Controls,Robotics and Autonomy ([14]-[17]) is given. In this review, quantum entanglement (Section 2.1) and quantum cryptography (Section 2.2) are used for hybrid classical-quantum control of classical multi-agent autonomous systems. In Section 2.3, the concept of Quantum Teleportation in conjunction with application to dynamical systems for autonomy is introduced."

Humanoid Robots

  • Mike Kalil, Humanoid Robots in Space: Past, Present and Future of AI Robotics in Space Missions
    Kalil 4.0, September 27, 2024
    "Humanoid robots are revolutionizing space exploration by performing tasks too dangerous or repetitive for astronauts. Join us as we explore the history and advancements of humanoid robots in space. From NASA's Robonaut to ISRO's Vyomitra, learn how these robots are shaping the future of space missions on the Moon, Mars, and beyond."
  • Mike Kalil, AI-Powered Humanoid Robots Are Flying Now!
    Kalil 4.0, June 20, 2025
  • Boston Dynamics Just Dropped a NEW ATLAS That Actually Thinks
    AI Revolution, May 30, 2025
    "Boston Dynamics just upgraded its Atlas robot with a powerful new perception system that allows it to think, adapt, and work in real time. Hugging Face revealed two new open-source humanoid robots, while China’s RobotEra stunned the world with STAR1, a robot that can cook dumplings with chopsticks. From Apple’s secret AI robot project to Saudi Arabia’s multilingual religious guide Manara and Elon Musk’s plan to send robots to Mars, this week marked a major leap forward in AI robotics."
  • Jay Ramey, Auto Workers Could Look like This in the Future
    Autoweek, May 06, 2025
    "Hyundai Motor Group boosts collaboration with its Boston Dynamics unit, with plans to deploy the Atlas robot in its factories."
  • Jonathan O’Callaghan, Future of space travel: Could robots really replace human astronauts?
    BBC News, December 30, 2024
    "Andrew Coates, a physicist from University College London, agrees. "For serious space exploration, I much prefer robotics," he says. "[They] go much further and do more things.""
  • Nishta Varma Why can’t we send AI to space instead of humans?
    UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences, April 12, 2024
    "Unlike our robotic counterparts, humans possess the ability to improvise and innovate in response to unforeseen challenges. We are equipped with the intuitive skills to troubleshoot issues on the fly and learn from our mistakes. Whether it's tinkering with equipment or brainstorming solutions, our ability to think creatively in the face of adversity is unparalleled.
    Robots on the other hand lack intuitive and adaptive qualities. They can only perform tasks they are trained to do, and we cannot possibly train them for every probable circumstance. Hence, the value of having humans in space."
  • $30,000 Tesla Robot isn't scary at all
    TikTok
    "Kim kardashian shows off her $30,000 Tesla Robot"

The Manufacture of Quantum Computers

Powering ExtraTerrestrial Mining

  • Sandra Erwin,
    SPACENEWS, April 8, 2025
    "Space nuclear power and propulsion technologies are poised for a breakthrough after decades of development, but will need consistent government investment to transition to operational systems, according to L3Harris executives."

Extraterrestrial Mininng Companies and NASA

  • Theia
    TransAstra
    "Our patented Theia algorithm enhances a telescope's ability to detect faint moving objects, outperforming conventional track-before-detect methods by 100 times or more."
  • Capture Bag
    TransAstra
    "Honey Bee™ Asteroid Mining Vehicle
    Capture Bag is a key component to our future asteroid mining plans. It will capture asteroids the size of houses, which can contain as much water as a swimming pool."
  • Joel Sercel TransAstra Corp., Optical Mining of Asteroids, Moons, and Planets to Enable Sustainable Human Exploration and Space Industrialization
    NASA, April 6, 2017
    "PROBLEM, DEEP SPACE HUMAN EXPLORATION IS UNAFFORDABLE:
    In 2014 the NASA Advisory Council issued a finding that “The mismatch between NASA’s aspirations for human spaceflight and its budget for human spaceflight is the most serious problem facing the Agency.” Since the time of that advisory, NASA has conducted many mission and systems analyses, but has yet to publish a sustained mission plan and cost analysis that fits within any budget that Congress will approve. NASA’s vision of human exploration remains unaffordable largely due to the high cost of launching large quantities of drinking water, oxygen, radiation shielding and especially rocket propellant from Earth.
    SOLUTION: OPTICAL MINING OF ASTEROIDS PROVIDES AFFORDABLE MISSION CONSUMABLES AND RADIATION SHIELDING:"
  • TransAstra Awarded First Defense Department Contract for FlyTrap, Following Success With NASA
    , January 24, 2024
  • Joel Sercel, TransAstra Corp Optical Mining of Asteroids, Moons, and Planets to Enable Sustainable Human Exploration and Space Industrialization
    Nasa.gov, April 06, 2017
  • The Extraterrestrial Mining Company
    "We’re XMC. We finance, create and connect the infrastructure that will form a lasting link between the extraterrestrial and Earth. Our Helium-3 mining will find, gather and import this vital isotope needed for global fusion power and quantum computing. And our lunar power utilities will develop a reliable source of nuclear power for the space industry of the future. Through these and our other large-scale projects, we’ll establish a space-for-space economy. Crucially, we’ll connect our planet to our cosmos, securing our place within it for millennia to come."

NVIDIA

  • developer.nvidia.com, NVIDIA Isaac Lab
    NVIDIA
    ""NVIDIA Isaac™ Lab is an open-source, unified framework for robot learning designed to help train robot policies

    Isaac Lab is developed on NVIDIA Isaac Sim™, providing high-fidelity physics simulation using NVIDIA PhysX® and physically based NVIDIA RTX™ rendering. It bridges the gap between high-fidelity simulation and perception-based robot training, helping developers and researchers build more robots, more efficiently."
  • NEW: NVIDIA CEO's Huge Humanoid Robot Predictions (Jensen Huang)
    Farzad, May 19, 2025

President John F. Kennedy

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