Sipping a soft drink outside a San Diego coffee shop, Jim Benson puts a black chunk of iron on the white table in front of him. The rock is a piece of an asteroid, a talisman Benson carries as a reminder of the mineral riches that await in outer space. And this isn't an abstract interest: Benson intends his young company, Space Development Co., or SpaceDev, to be "the first publicly traded company in the business of exploring space."

If SpaceDev succeeds, Benson says, it might be quite profitable. But in his view, there's more to the venture than boosting his stockholders' profits. Indeed, he says, SpaceDev could usher in a new sector of the economy-private space ventures-that might one day have the energy and growth potential of the early software industry. SpaceDev, he believes, could hasten the economic development of the high frontier.