What about mining expensive resources?

[PatPL]

The point is: You send a mission to for example Mun. Your craft is a lander with mining equippment and tank for gold, silver or anything else expensive in Kerbin. Then come back to Kerbin, and recover vehicle with this resource. You gain funds.

[Superfluous J]

That's a whole lotta extra parts to clutter up the utilities tab (even further).

[AbacusWizard]

Could be abstracted as mining kerbucks directly (maybe the Precursors just buried a bunch of money in some places throughout the system; who knows why??) which would increase the value of the craft itself and therefore be added to your central treasury when the craft (or perhaps just the kerbals? how many kerbucks can you fit in the pockets of a spacesuit?) is recovered.

[dryer_lint]

... or maybe they just make Xenon the "rare" resource because it sounds cool, and they give it a high cost? Most crafts only use small amounts of it, so purchasing wouldn't be an issue, but you could mine it into empty containers and recover it to get funds.

Heck, they could just add a "Gold" resource that can only be mined, and use that.

[kerbiloid]

USI Kolonization System produces RareMetals and ExoticMinerals especially for this.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/79588-0-90-USI-Kolonization-Systems-%28MKS-OKS%29-%280-22-8%29-2015-02-27

KSPI allows to produce Antimatter

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/111159-WIP-0-90-KSP-Interstellar-Extended-0-7-15

[Kegereneku]

Kerbals Space Program isn't suited to the exploitation of space resources in its gameplay.

Do you imagine needing to replenish both fuel, mining the new rock and then getting back to Kerbin every time you want money ? If it didn't have a lot of risk to fail without having already advanced tech (nuclear thruster) or simplifying the whole things (exploiting Asteroid you can put unto orbit), it would get tedious fast.

Realistically we would need far more advanced technology to make exploitation of space resources economically sound (not that the economy is intelligent but it's what we use).

And that for the rarest materials like Platinum, else the rest isn't worth bringing back unless you can use in on place.

[Wjolcz]

I hope the new resource we're getting is going to be pretty rare on Kerbin, and have a high price when recovered.

[QuantumInc]

I keep thinking one could have "Kirbidium" as an analogue to Iridium, an element that's extremely rare on earth, but relatively common in asteroids. I've heard that the highest concentrations on earth are actually buried asteroids, though it is also found alongside platinum. "Rocky" asteroids could be a source of fuel. "Metallic" asteroids could be mined for various money making materials. Though if it is possible to mine xenon alongside other fuels, it could easily act as a money making material.

[Sampa]

you know, that kind of gives me an interesting idea to give unmanned rovers a little more purpose! Can we have random science/resources and a small drill, similar to what Spirit and Opportunity carry to do search for "life"?

[prophet_01]

Well... as already mentioned, bringing back fuel to the KSC isn't rly worth it. Making money with ressources sounds good to me, but it would rly require some kind of new material implemented, an iridium or platinum analogue could be reasonable.

From a realism point of view Xenon doesn't make sense. It's definetly not cheap, but it's produced by filtering redicuolus amounts of air here on earth (with massive energy consumption) just to get a ziny amount of it and as far as I know it's even rarer in other places...

How about selling fuel to customers in low kerbin orbit via contract? There have been proposals IRL by some companies to do that in LEO by establishing an unmaned mining operation on the surface of the moon. Not that this is likely to happen soon, but to me that sounds far more sane than literally burning tons of high tech equipment to extract a small amount of ore and land it on earth.

I would think of this like a regular contract for satelite deployment, but in this case it requires you to have a vehicle with a certain amount of fuel in a specific orbit. The payoff needs be too low to generate profit with a regular launch. Those contracts could certainly be done with SSTO's by the rly experienced players, but I think it's not a problem since the next patch is likely to balance SSTO rockets anyway.

[QPDO]

Those things are ALL implemented as mods already. Check out:

- USI OKS / MKS

- Extraplanetary Launchpad

- Regolith / Karbonite

- Routine Mission Mod

If you put up a suitable base (like on Minmus) you can produce your rockets and fuel there (form mined resources) and earn a lot of cash doing missions. Or you get into the USI MKS resource tree and start producing high prized substances and haul them back to earth. I even set up a Karbonite Drill and Refinery Plant about 3 km from KSC (due to lag issues) just in case I run low on money and need some quick cash from filling huge tanks with Metal and selling it.

[Vectura]

But maybe mods are not always the solution to everything. And I believe some form of mining system is already gonna be in 1.0

[Kegereneku]

ISRU (In situ Resources Utilization) will be for refueling from Asteroid and Planetary body. You won't make money that way.

And realistically, minimum mineral like Platinum would be hardly profitable before we get to do it on a large scale with futuristic technology.

KSP will have the refueling part that interest everybody, we can let mods add some ludicrously valuable MacGuffin.

[Scoundrel]

I had this crazy thought that a Helium-3 analogue (Kerbolium-3?) would be a better fit. Simply put: there is a power requirement for kerbalkind (the amount is irrelevant) and the starting price of Ke-3 would be $100 a ton (or whatever, the number I picked was purely arbitrary); as the player brings back more and more Ke-3, the price per ton drops until it is no longer economical to bring it back. As the Ke-3 on Kerbin gets consumed, the price begins to rise again until it becomes economically viable to mine Ke-3 once more.

It has all the advantages of an economy without actually requiring one to exist, and the fact that it can be saturated eliminates the risk of exploitation. It also adds a lot of possibilities for gameplay expansion, both in the main game and in DLCs that pop out down the road: an economic incentive to explore beyond meandering from geome to geome for the sake of science points; and a futuristic resource for whenever the devs decide we're allowed to go beyond the Kerbin system.

The best part: it isn't required. A player can completely ignore it if they want to. Or, they can alternate between contracts and mining depending on their mood. Or they can completely ignore contracts and just mine.

Crazy, right?

[Wjolcz]

I came with literally more than 6 ideas of how to transport cargo through solar system to earn money, since the last time I visited this thread! We seriously need that 1.0 ore to cost money!

Also bump for Mining Colonies and Nostromo! Space Freighters, ho!

Edited April 13, 2015 by Veeltch

[Red Iron Crown]

I like this idea, if only for the gameplay reason of giving players another option to earn funds. Don't like contracts? Harvest a bunch of resources and sell them to pay for that next mission.

[kerbiloid]

As there is Duna, maybe Squad implement Duna worms?

Combined with MKS/OKS this looks promising.

[Joonatan1998]

If this was added kerbin shouldn't have any of them. (at least not anywhere near KSC)

It could be explained as not having "mining rights" or something.

If you could mine the resource near KSC you could just leave the game to timewarp 100 years and get free funds. (because time doesn't matter in KSP.) Actually this may be possible even with just mineable fuel, but it wouldn't be very efficient.

[Wjolcz]

If this was added kerbin shouldn't have any of them. (at least not anywhere near KSC)

It could be explained as not having "mining rights" or something.

If you could mine the resource near KSC you could just leave the game to timewarp 100 years and get free funds. (because time doesn't matter in KSP.) Actually this may be possible even with just mineable fuel, but it wouldn't be very efficient.

Or: the closer mined to Kerbin system the lower the price. Though not really sure what would happen if you mixed ores from Eeloo and Mun.

[rkman]

Given that Kerbals use Earth-like rocket technology (relatively expensive and not particularly efficient), how could extra-Kerbin mining be economically competitive with Kerbin-side mining?

[Red Iron Crown]

Given that Kerbals use Earth-like rocket technology (relatively expensive and not particularly efficient), how could extra-Kerbin mining be economically competitive with Kerbin-side mining?

If the mined material doesn't exist on Kerbin.

[prophet_01]

The KSC seems to not have fixed costs or personel that wants to be paied on a regular base. Equipment in space such as a giant nerva-based infrastructure with refueling and mining stations that spans the entire system doesn't even require the slightest amount of maintenance and doesn't age...

If you do that kind of stuff with your own space program you are either a liar or a wizzard

[Wjolcz]

Given that Kerbals use Earth-like rocket technology (relatively expensive and not particularly efficient), how could extra-Kerbin mining be economically competitive with Kerbin-side mining?

You just add the thing to sea food in expensive restaurants and sell it to movie stars and other millionaires. All they have to know is that it was brought from another planet.

[AbacusWizard]

Given that Kerbals use Earth-like rocket technology (relatively expensive and not particularly efficient), how could extra-Kerbin mining be economically competitive with Kerbin-side mining?

Keep in mind though that the Kerbals also live in a world in which SSTO spaceplanes are possible and practical (and fun!). Once I get the off-world mining infrastructure in place, I can send up a cargo spaceplane to receive a shipment of minerals and bring it down to the surface at no cost other than fuel, which is cheap--and becomes essentially free if I can also mine for fuel. There's a high initial cost for the infrastructure, but given enough time it will more than pay for itself.

[Wjolcz]

Keep in mind though that the Kerbals also live in a world in which SSTO spaceplanes are possible and practical (and fun!). Once I get the off-world mining infrastructure in place, I can send up a cargo spaceplane to receive a shipment of minerals and bring it down to the surface at no cost other than fuel, which is cheap--and becomes essentially free if I can also mine for fuel. There's a high initial cost for the infrastructure, but given enough time it will more than pay for itself.

Exactly.