AstroForge

AstroForge was founded on January 10, 2022 by Matthew Gialich and Jose Acain, aiming to become the first asteroid mining company. AstroForge raised about $13 million in seed funding, and worked on developing technologies aimed to process asteroid materials.{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=26 May 2022 |title=Asteroid-mining startup AstroForge raises $13 million, books launch for test mission |url=https://www.space.com/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-2023-launch |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=Space.com}} In 2023, the company had over twenty employees.{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDk7Ybu8nGM |people=Payload |title=Mining Asteroids, with Matt Gialich (AstroForge) |format=video |date=11 July 2023 |access-date=10 November 2023 |via=YouTube}}

In April 2023, AstroForge launched its first mission via the SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on its Transporter-7 rideshare mission and built by the aerospace company OrbAstro, the AstroForge 6U cubesat called Brokkr-1 was sent into Low Earth Orbit to test asteroid material refinement technologies.{{Cite web |last=Alamalhodaei |first=Aria |date=24 January 2023 |title=Asteroid mining startup AstroForge will test its metal refinery tech in space this year |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/24/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-will-test-its-metal-refinery-tech-in-space-this-year/ |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=Tech Crunch}} The aim was to separate precious metals like platinum from general materials like iron. The mission failed because of communication problems.{{Cite web |last=Knapp |first=Alex |date=18 October 2023 |title=This Asteroid Mining Startup Is Ready To Launch The First-Ever Commercial Deep Space Mission |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2023/10/18/this-asteroid-mining-startup-is-ready-to-launch-the-first-ever-commercial-deep-space-mission/?sh=62239b41674a |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=Forbes}}{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=2024-08-20 |title=AstroForge raises $40 million |url=https://spacenews.com/astroforge-raises-40-million/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}} On October 18, 2023, AstroForge completed a successful test of the flight propulsion system for their next mission, Odin.{{Cite web |last=Bamford |first=Craig |date=25 October 2023 |title=Astroforge Closer to Asteroid Mining with Successful Propulsion Test |url=https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/astroforge-closer-asteroid-mining-with-successful-propulsion-test/ |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=SPACEREF}}

Odin launched on 27 February 2025 as a rideshare of the IM-2 lunar mission; it failed due to ground station and communication issues.

AstroForge's goal is the extraction, refinement, and sale of platinum-group metals (PGMs) located within M-type asteroids near to Earth. These asteroids are generally quite small in comparison to main belt asteroids, being anywhere from around 20 to 300 meters in diameter. M-type asteroids are also believed to account for about 3-5% of all Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs). AstroForge considers five different asteroids that fit these qualifications as potential mining targets in future operations. Unlike other companies that were involved with space resources industries that had an interest in extracting water ice within asteroids and splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen to create interplanetary fuel depots, AstroForge is not interested in this concept due to the lack of a current market for interplanetary fuel depots.

Although there have been a number of robotic missions that have returned asteroid material to Earth (JAXA's Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 probes along with NASA's Osiris-REx probe), the process has yet to be commercialized, or completed on an M-type asteroid given that the past research targets of JAXA and NASA were C-type asteroids.{{Cite web |date=22 September 2022 |title=Sample return from Hayabusa2 reveals early history of asteroid Ryugu |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/press-office/press-releases/sample-return-from-hayabusa2-reveals-early-history-of-asteroid-r0.html |access-date=10 November 2023 |website=National History Museum}}

Spacecraft are named after figures in Norse mythology.

Brokkr-1, built by the British satellite manufacturer, OrbAstro, was AstroForge's first orbital spacecraft consisting of a 6U cubesat. Its main purpose was to demonstrate technology to extract metals from asteroid materials. The payload was expected to vaporize “asteroid-like” material and sort out metals from other constituents.{{cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |url=https://spacenews.com/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-to-launch-first-missions-this-year-2/ |title=Asteroid mining startup AstroForge to launch first missions this year |date=30 January 2023 |access-date=13 December 2023 |work=SpaceNews.com}}

The Brokkr-1 satellite, faced immediate challenges after its launch on April 15, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Transporter-7 rocket. The company struggled to identify its satellite among the 50 other spacecraft in the mission, a problem that was compounded by a malfunction during the deployment of the solar panel array. The magnetic field generated by the satellite's refining system interfered with its orientation system, making it difficult to align the antenna and fully deploy the solar panels.{{Cite web |last= Hrinko |first=Ivan |date=2023-12-17 |title=AstroForge loses asteroid mining spacecraft |url=https://universemagazine.com/en/astroforge-loses-asteroid-mining-spacecraft/ |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Universe Space Tech |language=en-US}}{{better source|date=March 2025}}

AstroForge revealed that they had identified the magnetic field issue before the launch but chose to proceed with the mission despite the risk. They opted to avoid a nine-month delay and the associated launch costs, even though it meant the satellite could potentially end up in a wobble that might disrupt communication.{{Cite web |last=Rabie |first=Passant |date=2023-12-12 |title=Asteroid Mining Startup Runs Into Trouble in First Mission |url=https://gizmodo.com/astrofargo-asteroid-mining-startup-demo-mission-1851092388 |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-US}}

In searching for the lost Brokkr-1, AstroForge noted that in the following weeks they established connections with space companies that had ground assets that could "help in identifying our satellite." On May 5, 2023, the first positive signal was received, which confirmed through telemetry that the satellite was in good condition.{{Cite web |title=An update on our progress towards mining in space |url=https://www.astroforge.io/updates/2023-update |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=www.astroforge.io |language=en}}

AstroForge's second demonstration spacecraft, initially designated Brokkr-2 and later renamed Odin, was also built by OrbAstro but uses a larger 100-kilogram satellite bus, and cost the company {{currency|3.5 million|USD|passthrough=yes}}. Odin's mission is to perform a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid and determine if the asteroid is metallic. The spacecraft was launched into a heliocentric orbit as a rideshare payload of the IM-2 lunar mission,{{cite web |last1=Gialich |first1=Matt |last2=Acain |first2=Jose |date=11 December 2023 |title=An update on our progress towards mining in space |url=https://www.astroforge.io/updates/2023-update |access-date=13 December 2023 |work=AstroForge}} with a number of other payloads on 27 February 2025.{{cite web |last=David |first=Leonard |url=https://spacenews.com/ice-hunting-lunar-trailblazer-im2-nearly-ready-january-2025-launch/ |title=Ice-hunting Lunar Trailblazer and IM-2 nearly ready for January 2025 launch |work=SpaceNews |date=12 September 2024 |access-date=12 September 2024}} Its spacecraft bus was completely rebuilt in-house mostly from scratch after the spacecraft failed vibration testing.{{cite web |first1=Douglas |last1=Gorman |url=https://payloadspace.com/astroforge-unveils-new-spacecraft-for-deep-space-mission/ |title=AstroForge Unveils New Spacecraft for Deep Space Mission |date=July 31, 2024 |website=payloadspace.com}} On 29 January 2025, the company announced that Odin will be targeting near-Earth object {{mpl|2022 OB|5}} for visitation, flying by the object 301 days after launch in December 2025.{{cite news |last1=Foust |first1=Jeff |title=AstroForge announces asteroid target for upcoming mission |url=https://spacenews.com/astroforge-announces-asteroid-target-for-upcoming-mission/ |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=SpaceNews |date=29 January 2025}} The asteroid was selected in part due to its suspected metallic composition, and its proximately to Earth during the spacecraft encounter.{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Eric |title=AstroForge selects target for “high risk, seat of the pants” asteroid mission |url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/astroforge-selects-target-for-high-risk-seat-of-the-pants-asteroid-mission/ |access-date=29 January 2025 |work=Ars Technica |date=29 January 2025}} Following the launch, Odin encountered communication issues.{{Cite web |title=NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, AstroForge’s Odin face post-deployment challenges – Spaceflight Now |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/02/28/nasas-lunar-trailblazer-astroforges-odin-face-post-deployment-challenges/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.astroforge.com/updates/odin-learnings|title=AstroForge | Earning the Learnings: The Launch of Odin|website=www.astroforge.com}} On 6 March 2025, the company officially declared Odin lost despite sporadic communication with the spacecraft from an AMSAT amateur radio operator in Germany, primarily due to ground station failures.{{cite web |last1=Snowden |first1=Chapman |title=AstroForge {{!}} Odin't: A Complete Debrief of Our Deep Space Mission |url=https://www.astroforge.com/updates/odint-mission-debrief |website=www.astroforge.com |access-date=6 March 2025 |date=6 March 2025}}

The third demonstration spacecraft, Vestri, will return to the same targeted metallic asteroid and land/dock with it.{{cite web |first1=Eric |last1=Berger |url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/against-all-odds-an-asteroid-mining-company-appears-to-be-making-headway/ |title=Against all odds, an asteroid mining company appears to be making headway |date=August 8, 2024 |website=Ars Technica}}

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