{"id":7065,"date":"2024-08-23T15:06:58","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T15:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/23\/space-mining-startup-astroforge-sets-sights-on-off-earth-mission-in-2025\/"},"modified":"2024-08-23T15:06:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T15:06:58","slug":"space-mining-startup-astroforge-sets-sights-on-off-earth-mission-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/23\/space-mining-startup-astroforge-sets-sights-on-off-earth-mission-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Mining Startup AstroForge Sets Sights on Off-Earth Mission in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asteroid-mining startup AstroForge is making waves with its plan to land on a near-Earth asteroid in 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company announced the expedition on Tuesday (August 20), also revealing that it has raised US$40 million in a Series A funding round, bringing the total capital it has accumulated to US$55 million.<\/p>\n

The mission will use AstroForge\u2019s Vestri probe, a 440 pound spacecraft designed to dock with a metallic asteroid. The launch is scheduled to take place as a ridealong on Intuitive Machines\u2019 (NASDAQ:LUNR) IM-3 Moon mission.<\/p>\n

If successful, it will be the first privately funded mission to land on a celestial body beyond the Earth-Moon system.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Founded in January 2022, AstroForge is looking to pioneer off-Earth mining and make off-world resources available for commercial use. While other space ventures are targeting water extraction from asteroids, AstroForge is concentrating on mining metals, with the goal of unlocking cost-effective and sustainable solutions to address resource depletion.<\/p>\n

The California-based company hopes that it will be able to develop a new supply chain for critical raw materials.<\/p>\n

The upcoming asteroid-landing mission is its third in a series of exploratory space ventures.<\/p>\n

The company’s first mission, Brokkr-1, was launched in April 2023 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Although the firm’s primary goal of demonstrating refinery technology in space was not achieved \u2014 due to the AstroForge team\u2019s inability to activate the probe\u2019s refinery payload \u2014 the mission provided valuable experience.<\/p>\n

AstroForge’s second mission, Odin, is set to launch later this year. Odin will serve as a precursor to the 2025 asteroid-landing mission by gathering crucial data about the target asteroid.<\/p>\n

The Odin spacecraft will be a secondary payload on Intuitive Machines\u2019 IM-2 mission to the Moon. It will focus on imaging the asteroid, giving AstroForge critical insights for its subsequent mining efforts. Odin, a 220 pound vehicle built entirely in-house, is replacing an earlier version of the spacecraft that failed vibration testing in March 2023.<\/p>\n

AstroForge\u2019s third mission will play a pivotal role in characterizing the composition of the targeted asteroid. The company\u2019s goal is to assess both the quality and quantity of the valuable elements on the asteroid.<\/p>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n

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