Space mining, The point of going there!

[Tim_the_Plumber]

There needs to be an end product of space exploration. Planting a few flags is not enough at all.

There will be in the real world. Mining expensive stuff will be the first of a long list of things that are done in space to make a profit.

H3 and what on Earth are rare minerals such as the stuff they use to make the best batteries will be the earliest of these materials to be brought back and sold.

Having the kit to do this sort of stuff in KSP is very important. It will allow the whole thing to get beyond the completion of contracts and the gaining of prestige. Actual profitable industry!

Once such things are operating, perhaps even before, the use of near Earth objects as sources of fuel or at least reaction mass can be highly useful. Big thrust using stuff you did not have to get up there in the first place.

The development of industry up there is also important. Some sort of building of an assemble hanger with the use of some simple parts made up there such as big cylinders which will be the bulk fuel tanks of the ship. The complex reaction wheels or whatever will probably have to be made on Earth for a long time but one day...

Ideally this would be on a shared map. Well, maybe shared with your friends or competition group... or something....

[RainDreamer]

We are going to get a Karbonite-like resource mining system.

[Tim_the_Plumber]

We are going to get a Karbonite-like resource mining system.

Cool. We need more of that so we can build space industries.

[nholzric]

I gently disagree. One of the many draws of KSP is the flying -er- simulation aspect of the game. Just getting there is exciting - witness the pictures people post of the their crafts just being places. Virtually no one posts a screenshot of how much money or science they've accumulated. In real life, space-based resource collection is valuable because the resources which are in space which make them convenient to use... in space. "To boldly go..." and all that.

That being said, I'm looking forward to a resource mining system too. But the point of that system will be both to have something to do once you get some place but also to go more places more conveniently.

So, resource mining is something to look forward too; but I wouldn't recommend holding your breath for such an expansive industry system because I believe that such a system would only be tangential to KSP.