[RightWhale]

challenging the "privatize space" folks to present a business case for their cause.

You don't need to recognize asteroid mining as a valid business activity, someone else has already done that. But you need to recognize private property rights in outer space, and this has not been done.

[r9etb]

You don't need to recognize asteroid mining as a valid business activity, someone else has already done that. But you need to recognize private property rights in outer space, and this has not been done.

There's no current business case for it, though -- venture capitalists are not likely to invest the multi-billions necessary to start asteroid mining from scratch, in the vague hope that their grandkids will possibly see a profit sometime within the next 50-75 years. Asteroid mining becomes possible and attractive when there is a space infrastructure already in place, and not before.