Everything is ready for the first experimental mission to mine an asteroid

(AstroForge / https://bit.ly/3wSOhct)

The private space company AstroForge has announced that it will launch the first two experimental vehicles for space mining in April and October this year.

One of them will test equipment for processing the soil and metal of asteroids, and the second will explore one of the possible target asteroids.

AstroForge was founded in 2022 by former employees of SpaceX and Virgin Orbit

The company sees the commercialization of mining metals from asteroids and delivering them to Earth as its goal.

This idea, which has been looking attractive for decades, was previously attempted by Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries.

However, they did not have significant achievements due to the complexity and high cost of the projects.

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LAUNCH ON SIGHT
On January 24, 2023, AstroForge announced that it will launch its first two spacecraft, developed by the British company OrbAstro, this year.

Brokkr-1, a 6U cubesat satellite, is due to launch into Earth orbit in April on a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-7 mission.

The satellite will carry experimental equipment that will attempt to vaporize the simulated asteroid material in zero gravity and separate it into individual components.

Brokkr-2 will be launched in October this year, as a payload on the lunar lander of private company Intuitive Machines, which will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket.

However, up until this point, the name of the target asteroid remains a secret.

Sources:

• Spacenews.com: https://spacenews.com/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-to-launch-first-missions-this-year-2/
• TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/24/asteroid-mining-startup-astroforge-will-test-its-metal-refinery-tech-in-space-this-year/

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#science #space #spacemining #astroforge #spacex #upex #nftmc