Asteroid mining is the process of extracting raw materials such as platinum and titanium metals from near-Earth asteroids and small planets for commercial use either in space projects or on earth. Sometimes referred to as in-situ resource utilization, asteroid mining can also be used to mine water from asteroids and use it as fuel for spacecrafts and drinking water for astronauts living in space. Asteroid mining is made feasible by the latest development in space exploitation technology as well as strong demand for hard-to-find elements that are vital for the manufacturing of modern electronics and other high tech products.

Planetary Resources, a company backed by filmmaker James Cameron, Google co-founder Larry Page and others, announced plans on April 23, 2012 to launch a line of spacecraft to prospect, and eventually extract minerals from, near-Earth asteroids.