Asteroids have often been considered as a source of water and fuel for future space bases. Some
As reported to the Space portal.com CEO Matt Gialich, AstroForge has developed and patented materials purification technology that it will use to extract platinum group metals from space rocks.
The developers plan to test theirtechnology in space conditions at the beginning of next year. To do this, AstroForge has reserved a seat on the Falcon 9 spacecraft. The company will send a cubesat into orbit that will extract platinum from a sample brought back from Earth.
Detailed information about the technology of mining themselvesasteroids has not yet been publicly disclosed, but the co-founders of the company say that high-end vacuum and weightlessness are required for the technology to work. In addition, as Gialich stated, the company does not plan to land on asteroids. And for mining, they focus on small objects ranging in size from 20 m to 1.5 km.
Our real mission is to bring asteroid mining to the forefrontfrom the realm of science fiction to the realm of reality. <…> We need to evolve quickly and we are willing to take more risks and move quickly. We know that we will have setbacks along the way, and we are prepared for them. This is how we learn.
Matt Gialich, CEO and co-founder of the company
It is noted that the co-founders of the startup earlierworked in space projects. AstroForge was founded in January 2022 by SpaceX alumnus Jose Acain and former NASA employee Matt Gialich.
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