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200642 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.200642 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 37 pages Pickard, London Peet, Matthew Dahm, Werner Barrett, The Honors College Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program The objective of this thesis is to prove that using a Skyhook for off-world mining is not only cheaper overall, but also less risky and uses less propellant per mission. A Skyhook is a space tether that acts as a momentum transfer device, transferring both angular and linear momentum to the rocket. Skyhook also raises the rocket to a higher orbit, and with the increased speed, allows the rocket to perform maneuvers without having to burn propellant. The asteroid chosen for this proof of concept was 511 Davida, which sits in the asteroid belt and is estimated to be the most valuable asteroid inside of the asteroid belt. A mission plan was designed where there are two flights to the asteroid, one with the objective of planting the mining equipment some time earlier, and the other with the objective of obtaining the mined materials. Both missions were analyzed with and without the presence of Skyhook and compared. It was shown that using Skyhook uses less propellant per mission than not using Skyhook and only using rockets. The costs of using and not using Skyhook were also estimated and compared. It was shown that Skyhook is far cheaper than just using rockets and that Skyhook is the only way to make off world mining profitable. This also shows that it is less risky, as a failed mission using Skyhook will be a lower price to pay rather than just using rockets. Overall, using Skyhook makes far more sense to use with asteroid mining than just using rockets. Skyhook Asteroid Mining Rockets Orbital Mechanics Space Tether Analysis of Skyhook on Off-World Mining