Asteroid-Mining Startup Plans First Private Mission to Deep Space
upstart writes:
AstroForge has announced an ambitious commercial mission to observe a distant asteroid-an important step for the California startup as it strives to become the world's first deep space mining company.
AstroForge seeks to capitalize on the rapidly evolving state of the spaceflight industry and become the first firm to mine for metals in deep space. The California startup raised $13 million in seed funding last year-its first year of existence-and has now formally announced two mining-related missions that are scheduled to launch within the calendar year. The company is partnering with several others to make it happen, including OrbAstro, Dawn Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines.
Space is the place, as Sun Ra famously said, and it most certainly has plenty to offer, including rare-earth metals like platinum, gold, iridium, palladium, and osmium, among other minerals. Materials on a single asteroid could fetch trillions of dollars, making asteroid mining a tantalizing prospect. This idea has been around for decades, but the excessive costs associated with the endeavor have largely made it impossible. That's changing, however, as it's never been more affordable to launch rockets and manufacture satellites and spacecraft.
[...] "With a finite supply of precious metals on Earth, we have no other choice than to look to deep space to source cost-effective and sustainable materials," Matt Gialich, CEO and co-founder of AstroForge, said in a statement.
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