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We include updates on Soil, Wood, Non-renewable resource, Asteroid mining, Green economy, Manganese nodule, Blue economy, Extractivism, Ecological economics, Environmental stewardship, Critical Raw Materials Act, Ecosystem health, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Limiting factor, Colonial commodity fiat, Energy quality ... and more.

2024	In situ resource utilization VIPER (rover), the spiritual successor to the Resource Prospector, was cancelled.
2024	Asteroid mining Japan's SLIM mission landed on the Moon.
2024	Asteroid mining Japan's LEV-1 rover explored the lunar surface.
2024	Ministry of Economic Affairs Ministry restored to its original name of Ministry of Economic Affairs, with the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth being spun off as a separate entity.
2024	Lunar resources American startup Interlune announced plans to mine Helium on the Moon, intending to use NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program for their first mission to export Helium back to Earth.
July 2024	Ministry of Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts became the Minister of Economic Affairs, taking office in July 2024.
2023	In situ resource utilization SpaceX stated their goal of developing an ISRU technology for a Mars propellant plant, planning to mine subsurface water ice and produce methane and oxygen for Starship return flights no earlier than this year.
2023	Asteroid mining India's Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the Moon, with the Pragyan rover exploring the surface.
December 2023	Asteroid mining US congressional committee holds a hearing on asteroid mining, signaling renewed governmental interest in the commercial potential of asteroid exploration and resource extraction.
October 10 2023	Asteroid mining NASA plans to launch the Psyche orbiter mission to study the asteroid 16 Psyche in the main asteroid belt.
September 24 2023	Asteroid mining OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returned asteroid sample to Earth.
August 2023	Asteroid mining The Asteroid Institute, a program of the B612 Foundation, announced the Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping (ADAM) platform to provide public access to asteroid orbit data and resources.
2022	Asteroid mining AstroForge, a startup, announced intentions to develop technologies and spacecraft for prospecting, mining, and refining platinum from near-earth asteroids.
December 13 2022	Lunar resources The United States Department of Energy publicly announced the historic fusion energy breakthrough achieved by the National Ignition Facility on December 5th.
December 5 2022	Lunar resources The National Ignition Facility conducted the first controlled fusion experiment to reach scientific energy breakeven, producing more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it.
2021	Asteroid mining China's Tianwen-1 mission orbited, landed, and roved on Mars with the Zhurong rover.
December 8 2021	Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke from the Green Party becomes the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection under Chancellor Olaf Scholz's first cabinet
April 20 2021	In situ resource utilization MOXIE experiment aboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover successfully produced its first 5.37 grams of oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide using solid oxide electrolysis.
2020	In situ resource utilization NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission included an ISRU technology demonstrator called the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment, designed to extract CO2 from the Martian atmosphere and produce oxygen.
2020	Asteroid mining China's Chang'e 5 mission returned a sample from the Moon.
2020	Asteroid mining A resurgence of interest in asteroid mining begins, with companies from the United States, Europe, and China renewing efforts in space resource exploration.
2020	Asteroid mining Japan's Hayabusa2 mission completed a sample return from an asteroid.
2020	Asteroid mining Hayabusa2 mission successfully returned asteroid samples to Earth.
2020	Asteroid mining OSIRIS-REx mission arrived at its target asteroid for sample collection.
2020	Lunar resources The European Space Agency awarded funding to Metalysis to develop the FFC Cambridge process for extracting titanium from lunar regolith and generating oxygen as a byproduct.
September 24 2020	Asteroid mining OSIRIS-REx NASA mission returned an asteroid sample to Earth, marking a significant achievement in asteroid sample return technology.
April 2020	Lunar resources U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to support moon mining.
April 6 2020	Asteroid mining U.S. President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order encouraging international support for space resource recovery, asserting Americans' right to commercial space resource exploration and rejecting the concept of space as a 'global commons'.
2019	Asteroid mining Deep Space Industries acquired by Bradford Space, a company specializing in earth orbit systems and space flight components.
September 2019	Asteroid mining NASA announced the development of a space-based infrared telescope to support asteroid cataloging and support the detection of potentially dangerous asteroids, with the NEO Surveyor mission funded by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
2018	Asteroid mining NASA initiated the VIPER rover mission to prospect for lunar resources, which was canceled in July 2024.
2018	Asteroid mining SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle began operational use, which astronomer Martin Elvis projected would increase the number of economically minable near-Earth asteroids from hundreds to thousands, expanding accessible near-Earth asteroids from 3% to around 45%.
2018	Asteroid mining Planetary Resources abandoned all plans for Arkyd space telescope technology and wound down operations, with hardware auctioned off and remaining assets acquired by ConsenSys.
2018	Asteroid mining Hayabusa2 JAXA mission arrived at its target asteroid for sample return mission.
2018	Asteroid mining The Luxembourg Space Agency was created to provide financial support for private companies working on asteroid mining.
2018	Asteroid mining Deep Space Industries successfully developed a line of water-propellant thrusters and second Arkyd spacecraft prototype was flown.
October 2018	Ministry of Economic Affairs The Hague Court of Appeal ruled against the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the climate change lawsuit, upholding the lower court's decision requiring action on emissions reduction.
June 2018	Lunar resources Negotiations for detailed mining rules in the Moon Treaty are delayed by S. Neil Hosenball, NASA General Counsel and chief US negotiator, pending establishment of lunar resource exploitation feasibility.
April 2018	In situ resource utilization The lunar Resource Prospector rover mission was scrapped, with its science instruments being redirected to commercial lander missions through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
March 14 2018	Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Svenja Schulze from the SPD assumes the role of Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety in Chancellor Angela Merkel's fourth cabinet
2017	Asteroid mining Japan, Portugal, and the UAE entered into cooperation agreements with Luxembourg for celestial body mining operations.
2017	Asteroid mining Luxembourg became the first European country to pass a law conferring ownership of extracted space resources to companies.
2017	Ministry of Economic Affairs Ministry renamed to Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, incorporating environmental policy portfolios from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment.
August 2017	Power Division Power Division was formed through the bifurcation of the Ministry of Water and Power, creating separate Ministry of Water Resources and Power Division.
September 8 2016	Asteroid mining OSIRIS-REx NASA asteroid sample return mission launched, targeting asteroid sample collection.
August 16 2016	Asteroid mining Platinum was valued at $1,157 per ounce ($37,000 per kilogram), used as a reference point for calculating potential asteroid mining financial feasibility.
June 2016	Asteroid mining Luxembourg announced it would invest significant funds in research, technology demonstration, and direct equity purchase for space resource companies.
February 2016	Asteroid mining The Government of Luxembourg announced its intention to jump-start an industrial sector for asteroid mining by creating a legal framework and regulatory incentives for space resource companies.
2015	Asteroid mining First prototype of Arkyd spacecraft flown by Planetary Resources.
2015	Lunar resources The International Institute of Space Law (ISSL) issues a position stating that the use of space resources is permitted due to the absence of a clear prohibition in the Outer Space Treaty.
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Power Division (Pakistan), Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Lunar resources, In situ resource utilization, Ministry of Economic Affairs (Netherlands) & Asteroid mining, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.