About
AstroForge builds spacecraft, in-space refinery technology, and modular deep-space platforms to prospect for and ultimately extract platinum-group metals and other critical minerals from asteroids. It sells commercial payload access to startups, researchers, commercial teams, companies, agencies, and institutions, differentiating itself through compact, low-cost, flight-tested, launch-provider-agnostic systems designed to make deep-space operations more accessible.
Market
AstroForge competes in commercial deep-space infrastructure, asteroid prospecting, in-space resource extraction, and emerging space-resources markets, with a particular focus on platinum-group metals and other critical minerals. Its differentiation is a low-cost, replicable, autonomous spacecraft strategy combining asteroid imaging and characterization, modular payload services, and eventual mining/refining capabilities; this contrasts with TransAstra’s solar-powered SolarForge foundry, Karman+’s low-cost asteroid-mining and commodity-supply model, SpaceGold’s early-stage precious-metals hardware, and ExLabs’ asteroid-capture approach.
AstroForge’s primary customers are space startups, researchers, and commercial space teams that need to fly instruments or payloads beyond Earth orbit. The likely buyers are payload owners and mission managers seeking a low-cost, modular deep-space platform and faster access to asteroid or interplanetary missions.
At a Glance
Problem
AstroForge is addressing the fragile and costly terrestrial supply chain for platinum-group metals (PGMs), which are used in applications ranging from electronics and catalytic converters to clean-energy technologies. Conventional PGM mining faces limited supply, high costs, low margins, and environmental impacts. The company’s central economic thesis is that metal-rich near-Earth asteroids could provide a high-yield, lower-impact source of critical metals; AstroForge says a single asteroid could theoretically supply Earth for 200 years, although the commercial feasibility remains unproven.
The killer use case is therefore not generic space exploration but supplying valuable PGMs to Earth and, eventually, to industries operating in space. A successful mission would identify a metal-rich asteroid, extract and refine its contents, and return only the valuable material rather than transporting the entire asteroid.
Product / Service
AstroForge is developing an integrated asteroid-mining system rather than selling a conventional software or launch service. Its approach is to build low-cost, repeatable spacecraft that can autonomously travel to, characterize, and ultimately mine asteroids; the company’s stated process is to break asteroid material up, refine it in space, and return only what is valuable. The intended benefit is a smaller, more scalable logistics chain than bringing bulk asteroid material back to Earth, while also moving the most difficult refining work off-world.
The near-term product is the mission platform that makes this possible. DeepSpace-2 is designed as a roughly 200-kilogram, low-cost autonomous spacecraft that can operate for up to two years, travel millions of kilometers, and rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid. Its initial payload will capture high-resolution imagery and infer the asteroid’s shape, structure, and mineral composition; the planned evolution includes landing on a metallic asteroid to measure surface PGMs. DeepSpace-2 is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, making it a technology-demonstration and prospecting mission rather than a currently operating mining service.
Market
AstroForge competes in commercial asteroid mining and the broader space-resource-utilization market, with a particular focus on precious and critical metals rather than water or in-space propellant. Its closest named peers include TransAstra, which is developing asteroid-detection telescopes and software, and Karman+, which is pursuing hydrated asteroids and water extraction; Origin Space is another adjacent company focused on asteroid observation and mining-related technology. These companies are still pursuing different parts of an immature market, so AstroForge’s differentiation is its emphasis on metallic asteroids, PGMs, and in-space refining.
AstroForge is best characterized as a venture-funded, pre-commercial company rather than a proven revenue business. It raised $40 million in a 2024 Series A, bringing reported total funding to about $55 million, and its active YC profile dates the company to 2021. Odin launched in February 2025 but lost effective communications and did not complete its asteroid-prospecting objective; the mission nevertheless provided deep-space operations experience. The company is now advancing DeepSpace-2 for a planned 2026 launch. Since reporting indicates that no company has yet mined an asteroid, there is no demonstrated asteroid-mining revenue in the evidence, and AstroForge’s traction is currently measured in capital raised, spacecraft development, and mission execution rather than commercial sales.
Founders & Leadership
Funding History
Y Combinator
Initialized Capital
America’s Seed Fund
Nova Threshold
Recent News
AstroForge outlined how low-cost access to small bodies could support planetary-defense missions. Its DeepSpace-2 mission is intended to rendezvous with and image a metallic asteroid for characterization.
AstroForge described its strategy of using small, low-cost spacecraft for routine deep-space activity. The company said DeepSpace-2 will attempt to rendezvous with and land on a metallic asteroid, with future missions targeted to cost less than $10 million including launch.
Aerospace America reported that AstroForge had completed assembly of its DeepSpace-2 spacecraft, which was planned to launch aboard Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 lunar mission as the company’s second attempt to reach an asteroid.
AstroForge completed assembly of DeepSpace-2 and moved it into environmental testing. The spacecraft was scheduled to fly as a Falcon 9 rideshare with Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 mission, demonstrate a modular asteroid-prospecting platform, and carry out a near-Earth asteroid flyby.
AstroForge detailed its modular spacecraft platform, including a roughly 200-kilogram DeepSpace-2 vehicle designed to support up to 50 kilograms of payload for prospecting, science, mining, and planetary-defense missions.
AstroForge published an engineering update on spacecraft testing and integration, emphasizing qualification for the vacuum, temperature swings, and radiation encountered in deep space.
Dr. Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, joined AstroForge as a strategic advisor. His experience in asteroid materials, mission leadership, and spacecraft operations is intended to support the company’s space-resources program.
AstroForge announced a $40 million Series A led by Nova Threshold, bringing the company’s total funding to $55 million as it prepared its next asteroid mission.
Safran DSI was selected to deliver two EPS®X00 electric-propulsion systems for AstroForge’s Vestri mission. Vestri was described as a mission to dock with a near-Earth asteroid and evaluate its composition.
The Commercial Space Federation announced AstroForge as a new associate member. The announcement also noted the company’s preparation for its second deep-space mission, Vestri, planned for 2026.
Active Roles
16Business Model
AstroForge generates commercial revenue by selling payload slots and mission access on its deep-space spacecraft, with transparent pricing and mission support for startups, researchers, and commercial teams. Its planned core business is to extract and eventually supply platinum-group metals and other critical minerals from asteroids, while partnerships and government contracts may provide additional near-term revenue.