This paper highlights the role of government in boosting the private space sector and proposes that public-private linkages and state support are critical for the success of private space endeavours, such as the fledgling asteroid mining one. The economics of high costs in tandem with outsized risks, and the long time-horizon for the investment to reap a return, have been big obstacles for companies that want a stake in asteroid resource extraction. Such factors necessitate the state stepping in to share the burden. Government funding, technological help, and the state's underwriting of high-level risks, along with ensuring private property rights, are critical for the viability of the asteroid mining infant industry. This paper shows that without enough government backing, the possibility of success for such an enterprise is compromised, as seen in the dismal outcomes of the asteroid mining companies that emerged in recent times.