Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As countries race to secure critical minerals for the green tech transition, like cobalt, platinum and rare earth elements, both deep sea and deep space mining are quickly going from science fiction to reality. Which one will supply the materials of the future, and will journeying into the abyss below - or above - solve our problems, or create new and unfixable ones?
#DeepSeaMining #SpaceMining #PlanetA
Credits:
Reporter: Adam Baheej Adada
Supervising Editors: Kiyo Dörrer, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Video Editor: Adam Baheej Adada
Fact-check: Alexander Paquet, Aitziber Romero Bengoetxea
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Read more:
nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08921-3 - Looking back 44 years after a deep sea mining trial
nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02911-4 - Impact of TSM’s 2022 trial on biodiversity
nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03068-4 - Comparison between ecological effects of deep sea and terrestrial mining for nickel
https://hal.science/hal-01910090v1/document - A breakdown of asteroid mining’s potential environmental benefits
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2221345120 - How mining in space could spur sustainable growth
astroforge.com/updates-collection/the-next-frontier-of-deep-space - A look at Astroforge’s next mission, Deepspace-2
Chapters:
00:00 Intro.
00:43 How much is up/down there?
03:03 How hard is it to get to?
06:38 Which one is less harmful?
10:20 How realistic is any of this?
13:04 The recycling option
13:30 Conclusion
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. We'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Follow Planet A on TikTok: tiktok.com/@dw_planet
As countries race to secure critical minerals for the green tech transition, like cobalt, platinum and rare earth elements, both deep sea and deep space mining are quickly going from science fiction to reality. Which one will supply the materials of the future, and will journeying into the abyss below - or above - solve our problems, or create new and unfixable ones?
#DeepSeaMining #SpaceMining #PlanetA
Credits:
Reporter: Adam Baheej Adada
Supervising Editors: Kiyo Dörrer, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Video Editor: Adam Baheej Adada
Fact-check: Alexander Paquet, Aitziber Romero Bengoetxea
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Read more:
nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08921-3 - Looking back 44 years after a deep sea mining trial
nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02911-4 - Impact of TSM’s 2022 trial on biodiversity
nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03068-4 - Comparison between ecological effects of deep sea and terrestrial mining for nickel
https://hal.science/hal-01910090v1/document - A breakdown of asteroid mining’s potential environmental benefits
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2221345120 - How mining in space could spur sustainable growth
astroforge.com/updates-collection/the-next-frontier-of-deep-space - A look at Astroforge’s next mission, Deepspace-2
Chapters:
00:00 Intro.
00:43 How much is up/down there?
03:03 How hard is it to get to?
06:38 Which one is less harmful?
10:20 How realistic is any of this?
13:04 The recycling option
13:30 Conclusion
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. We'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Follow Planet A on TikTok: tiktok.com/@dw_planet
