Jun 01, 2022 17:00:00

Astro Forge, a start-up company aiming to mine platinum from asteroids, raises 1.67 billion yen

A startup aiming to realize science fiction movie-like technology that mines resources such as platinum and rare metals from asteroids in space and brings them back to the earth has raised funds of 13 million dollars (about 1.67 billion yen) It is reported that it was done.

Astroforge raises $ 13M seed round for asteroid mining ambitions | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/26/astroforge-raises-13m-seed-round-for-asteroid-mining-ambitions/

AstroForge aims to succeed where other asteroid mining companies have failed | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/astroforge-aims-to-succeed-where-other-asteroid-mining-companies-have-failed/

Asteroids are a treasure trove of precious mineral resources, but it has been pointed out in the past that 'it is difficult to obtain results commensurate with investment' because launching a platform for mining costs enormous costs. I did. However, with the advancement of technology, it is becoming more and more realistic.

Meanwhile, Astroforge , a startup that aims to mine platinum from asteroids by 2030, has announced that it has successfully raised $ 13 million in a seed round.

Astroforge co-founders Matt Gialich and Jose Acain say they have developed a technology for refining resources in space, but how do they solve the many technical challenges that stand in the way of mining in space? Details of are not disclosed. According to Gialich, Astroforge targets asteroids 20 meters to 1.5 kilometers in diameter and will never land on them.

'When it comes to mining asteroids, everyone laughs,' Gialich said in an interview. 'What cool ideas did those guys who went crazy with drugs come up with?' We can bring it from the realm of science fiction to the realm of reality. '

The source of Astroforge's confidence is that NASA's space probe '

OSIRIS-REx ' and Japan's JAXA-launched ' Hayabusa2 ' have successfully sampled from asteroids. In both cases, only a small amount of research sample was taken, but Astroforge believes that these cases show that mining from asteroids is technically possible.

The $ 13 million isn't a small amount, but it doesn't seem to be enough given the cost of space exploration. 'We're thinking of loading a very small spacecraft into a rocket to mine an asteroid, so the first return mission won't cost trillions of dollars,' Gialich said. He said that by sending the miner into space in the form of riding on the payload of another rocket, the cost could be kept low.

Astroforge has already partnered with space exploration company Orb Astro to develop the first demonstration satellite, and has also won the right to participate in a ride-sharing mission to pack equipment into SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket led by Elon Musk. It is said that there is.