Welcome to the world of asteroid mining, where the sky’s the limit – and so is the amount of debt you’ll accumulate trying to extract precious metals from space rocks.
Meet AstroForge Inc., the latest player in the game of asteroid mining. They’re planning to launch their first two missions to space this year, hoping to finally prove that mining asteroids are a viable business model. But let’s be real, they’re probably just going to join the long list of companies that have tried and failed before them.
First, there were Planetary Resources Inc. and Deep Space Industries Inc., two companies formed roughly a decade ago with the grandiose goal of mining asteroids. They were the pioneers of the industry, all right, they were the ones who blazed a trail straight to the bankruptcy court. And what did they accomplish? Absolutely nothing, they never even left Earth orbit. The two companies just accumulated a lot of debt and were eventually acquired by other companies and rerouted to other endeavors. But hey, at least they tried, right? Like throwing your life savings in a slot machine and ending up broke, but at least you tried to be a millionaire.
What is AstroForge plan for space mining?
Now, AstroForge Inc. is stepping up to the plate, ready to swing for the fences. They’ve got a grand plan to extract and refine metals from deep space. Starting with a test launch in April 2023 to refine platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material. And if that goes well, they’ll move on to the main event in October – a mission to scout for an asteroid near Earth to mine.
But wait, it gets better AstroForge Inc. has a brilliant solution to reduce the carbon footprint caused by mining rare Earth elements on Earth. Why bother with all that cleaning up and reducing pollution on our planet when you can just make an even bigger mess somewhere else. The company plan to refine the materials on the asteroid itself. Which means all that dirt and grime stays out of sight and out of mind. Just think of it, no more pesky environmental regulations to follow, no more guilt over destroying our planet. It’s a win-win situation, except for the poor asteroid of course.
What does AstroForge Ceo have to say?
According to AstroForge’s CEO, Matthew Gialich, “I think the biggest differentiator here is we’ve made a lot of progress in the last 10 to 15 years since those two companies really existed … primarily around launch. I can now buy a rideshare mission to the moon.”
Well, that’s reassuring. we’ve made a lot of progress in launch technology. But what about the actual mining and refining process? Has that seen any advancements? Who knows, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.
What does this mean moving forward for space mining?
AstroForge Inc. has a monumental task ahead of them: to prove that their business model of mining asteroids isn’t just a load of space debris. The current record for the largest haul from an asteroid? A measly 250 grams from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. But hey, maybe AstroForge knows something the rest of us don’t. Like how to mine an asteroid with just a spoon and some duct tape. Or perhaps AstroFroge have a secret army of space gnomes that can mine faster than humanly possible. Who knows, maybe they’re even planning to launch a fleet of sentient robots to do the dirty work. All we know for sure is that AstroForge boldly going where no one has gone before, and we’re all just along for the ride.
So, will AstroForge Inc. be the company to finally make asteroid mining a reality? Only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure – they’re going to have a lot of fun trying. And if they do happen to fail, they can always blame it on the asteroid’s bad attitude.
In conclusion, AstroForge Inc. is the latest player in the game of asteroid mining. They’re planning to launch their first two missions to space this year to extract and refine metals from deep space. But they’re probably just going to join the long list of companies that have tried and failed before them. But hey, at least they’re willing to take one for the team and try to make asteroid mining a viable business model. If you really ask me this is just like how Beyond Meat is trying to use Fake Meat to compete with the actual real Meat industry, which is already turning out to be a big mess.
