This paper examines the different approaches to project life cycle taken by the space and mining industries and finds them to be somewhat incompatible, primarily due to the criteria for decisionmaking in the life cycle processes. Whereas the space industry uses system engineering ideas, the decisions in a mining life cycle are all commercial. This is because the space sector thinks in terms of developing products, and the mining industry develops businesses. The paper does not propose solutions to the difficulties in communication between these two sectors, rather it aims to define the problem and highlight some aspects of the industries which are not yet solutions.