AstroForge Raises $40M For First-Ever Private Asteroid Mining Mission In 2025

Space mining company AstroForge has raised $40 million toward the first-ever private asteroid mining mission in 2025. The $40 million Series A funding round brings the total raised to date to $55 million, with investors representing what the company calls “some of the most forward-thinking and innovative folks in technology.”

While the thought of mining asteroids for precious metals is not a new concept, it began grabbing headlines last year when NASA began its journey toward Psyche, an asteroid with an estimated value of $10,000 quadrillion. So, it is no surprise companies like AstroForge are looking to pioneer the asteroid mining industry. With its first mission completed, and its second fully underway, the latest round of funding will go toward the company’s expected third mission, called Vestri.

“The horizon looks bright, and if we are successful, this will be a giant leap forward as we work to establish a new and untapped supply chain of raw materials for Earth,” wrote co-founders Matt Gialich and Jose Acain in a recent blog post about the new funding.

AstroForge’s first mission, called Brokkr-1, was supposed to test its refinery technologies in space. However, issues with communicating with the spacecraft kept the company from being able to follow through with the refinery demonstration. According to the company, the team could receive downlink telemetry packets, but could not close the command uplink necessary to activate the refinery payload. Even with the issues, AstroForge counted the mission as invaluable in being able to identify weaknesses to resolve its upcoming Mission 2, providing its team with the experience of a flight campaign from concept design to on-orbit operations, and all the steps in between.

The company ran into more issues with its second mission, Odin, after it failed vibration testing in March. An investigation of the testing revealed cracks in part of the spacecraft structure called the faceplate. Further reviews found more problems with the spacecraft’s propellant tanks, wire harnesses, and avionics.

Following the vibration test failure, AstroForge announced last month it had shifted its focus in early April to accelerate its in-house design of its own vehicle. During the fourth month period following the decision, the company has built a new version of its Odin vehicle, and is preparing to begin environmental testing.

“Half of this team is sleeping here every single day to get this done, and we’re all behind this massive game-changing mission,” remarked Gialich. “There isn’t a substitute for just being really, really hardcore and getting this mission across the line.”

As of right now, AstroForge has not disclosed its plans beyond its third mission. However, even with the recent failures, Gialich is confident in the company being successful, as he remarked, “We are still very much on track to return the first amount of platinum back to Earth before end of this decade.”