Since the 1990s, Colorado School of Mines has been a leading institution for the study of space resources and in situ resource utilization (ISRU). It has also become a destination for space scientists and engineers, government agencies, aerospace companies, entrepreneurs, the mining and minerals industry, financial and legal experts, and policy makers to discuss all topics related to space resources.

In recent years, growing interest in ISRU by space agencies and the private sector has been driven by an awareness that further development of space travel will be enabled through extraction of materials and production of propellants in space for more affordable and flexible transportation, facilities construction, and life support. The broad topic of space resources brings together many fields in which Mines has a strong presence, including remote sensing, geomechanics, mining, materials/metallurgy, robotics/automation, advanced manufacturing, electrochemistry, solar and nuclear energy, and resource economics.

In this light, Mines launched a first-of-its-kind multi-disciplinary graduate program in Space Resources in 2017 to offer a Post-Baccalaureate certificate and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees for college graduates and professionals interested in this emerging arena. The program focuses on developing core knowledge and gaining design practices in systems for responsible exploration, extraction, and use of resources in the Solar System.