[Whyte]

As it happens, this issue came up in our space campaign, too.

to put it simply, whilst using Vehicles v2 fuel prices, the GM had come up with prices for oxygen and hydrogen that were much too high for the campaign. So we started looking at the costs and assumptions, to come up with a better price for the campaign.

1. Raw materials (water/ice) is plentiful. Most colonized planets have huge oceans and minuscule population (in a few millions range, if that). So the price of water is close to zero.

2. Energy is plentiful, as cold fusion rules.

3. Other running costs: spare parts, work (supervision).

4. Space is cheap, too, due to the low population, so storage is not a huge problem, either.

In the end, for our campaign, we came up with a price that was about $1 / ton on colonized worlds. Even adding middlemen and allowing for profit, it would be very hard to see the price rise even to $10 / ton, although that might be the 'retail' price for small amounts.

In space stations, the price might be higher, but they would likely have their own comet miners to get enough for their own use, and a bit of extra to sell. So even there, the price would probably not be more than double.

Thus, comet mining is no longer the instant bonanza dealing with oxygen and hydrogen that it was earlier; most people wouldn't even bother. Instead, asteroid mining of iron-rich asteroids is the more profitable occupation. Especially if you strike rich on a platinum vein...