China is planning to build a base on an asteroid and start mining on the billions worth of precious metals in it.

Chinese scientists revealed on Monday their plan to land an unmanned aircraft on a space rock. The asteroid will then be mined or be used to piggybank probes into deep space, significantly cutting down the amount of fuel needed to power the probe, The Sun reported.

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According to Ye Peijian, a deep-space expert from the China Academy of Space Technology, at least 900 asteroids zoom past Earth yearly. And a number of these space rocks contain a vast amount of precious metals including iridium, platinum, and rhodium.

"In the near future, we will study ways to send robots or astronauts to mine suitable asteroids and transport the resources back to Earth," Ye told China Daily.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs said such plan is "realistic."

Meanwhile, scientists also want to study how these so-called minor planets are used as bases for interstellar journeys.

"In the long term, we will consider using resources from asteroids to build facilities in space or to provide materials to support interstellar travel," Ye said. "We can land an unmanned probe on it, and the probe will travel with the asteroid to deep space. When it reaches a certain point, we will activate the probe, which will leave the asteroid to execute its scientific mission."

Chinese scientists and engineers are currently developing new technologies and special equipment to carry out its ambitious asteroid expedition, including a large-thrust electric propulsion system, long-endurance power technology, a satellite-based navigation system, and sampling devices, ECNS reported.

Furthermore, China is planning to carry out at least one asteroid exploration mission between 2020 and 2025, adding that the details of the plan including the mission's schedule and target asteroid are yet to be determined.