Abstract
Commercial mining towns on Earth become cities. Company towns need commerce to drive the growth and economy of early space colonies. Water is an early resource for camp consumables plus propellant export sales from asteroid mining operations at proposed burned out comets with water methane ice cores for sustainable growth over 50 years, financed from profits and capable with affordable logistics to support resource recovery. One co-author's perspective includes remote resource recovery sites on Earth. Other co-authors' experiences include architecture, lunar habitation, and architectural space colony concepts. This paper combines these experiences to propose commercial opportunities possible as mankind moves beyond one planet. Alaska's North Slope commercial history indicates that different multiple logistics transportation systems are required to reduce the risk to humans and families moved in before the oil flowed. Commercial enterprises have risked $20 billion and spent hundreds of billions in private money after profits were created. The lessons learned are applied to a burned out comet designated Wilson-Harrington (1979) and explores the architecture for early living within the burned out comet disk created from ice recovery and later sealed with an expected methane ice interior. Considered is the recovery of the resources, the transport of water back to Earth orbit or L-1, plus later the development of more comfortable space colony living. Commercial markets produce cities on Earth and the same can happen on Space Colonies. The key is an 'in place' affordable commercial logistics system that can service, stimulate and sustain a 50-year commercial propellant market.