I didn’t originally want to say much, or anything at all, but… it’s relevant, certainly, and all over the wires (of people who deal in such things). NewSpace startup AstroForge has raised about US$40 million last week, making their capitalization so far $55 million. After their initial launch in April 2023, this will seal their already-planned follow-on asteroid mining mission in Dec. 2024 or early ‘25.
AstroForge had been pretty much in stealth mode until about a year ago. When you’re self/commercially financed and lab-bound, you owe disclosure and reporting to, oh, pretty much nobody. Even their initial demo launch implied pretty much nothing as far as the outside world, except launch clearance (actually the responsibility of the commercial launch provider) and radio traffic (hardly the first transceiver to fly). This December or so, AstroForge intends to be the first commercial operator of a deep-space probe. (A selfie-cam, taking promo shots of a dummy in a used car, is not ‘operating a probe.’)
That April 2023, AstroForge launched their Brokkr-1 demonstrator, a 6U CubeSat (that is, 300 or so millimeters long, by 200 wide, by 100 deep- six standard CubeSat Units.) The Brokkr-1 goal was to refine a small pack of asteroid simulant, in flightlike conditions… and in general, give AstroForge’s team experience and data and credibility (and therefore leverage with financiers). “Brokkr,” by the way, was one of the brothers (in Norse mythology) that forged Mjolnir for Thor. These dwarven blacksmiths not merely created a mythological wonder, but imbued it with lightning powers.
The naming scheme is apt. AstroForge’s follow-on, originally Brokkr-2, is now Odin, the wise old Norse leader of the gods. Odin (the probe) will fly closer to an M-type Near-Earth asteroid, verifying its M-ness, and reduce risk (both field risk of a bad target, and hardware/ops risk of a startup) for the next follow-on.
Risk is not to be dismissed here: Brokkr-1 was built by contractor Orbital Astronautics, as was “Odin,” or at least a version of Odin/Brokkr-2. The OrbAstro bus (the craft’s platform), built on OrbAstro’s ORB-50 design, failed in ground tests. AstroForge scrambled to finish their in-house design, and by OldSpace standards, they sure scrambled. From what I had seen of the timeline, the OrbAstro bus was slated to be on-pad around Spring of this year. Launch is now rescheduled for no earlier than December; AstroForge brags that they will have completed a flight vehicle in ~225 days. NewSpace, indeed. Meanwhile, the propulsion system (always meant to be contracted) is by Dawn Aerospace. Its nontoxic propellants give the probe maximum flexibility in launch options, with less hazmat risk to ground crews and other payloads on the rocket.
AstroForge is guarding the identity of the M-type (iron-based) asteroid they are targeting. First, this is a market-competing venture, and why would the company play their hand early. Second, AstroForge does not set the launch schedule, as a ridesharing customer. It is likely the company has a Plan B asteroid anyway… and a Plan C, maybe Plan D.
Assuming the Odin mission succeeds in verifying the asteroid (whichever), a follow-on to the follow-on is in the plans. Per Brokkr, a third craft would “land” on the asteroid (more like docking, in this literal microgravity realm). A sample would be pulled aboard, and metals (rich in nickel, cobalt, and the platinum-group elements) electrically refined from the asteroid dross (basically silicates). The yield will not be flown back- this is a demo, and Earth return is for a later, heavier, more expensive craft. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Regardless of what the pace is, each step costs money, and AstroForge appears on pace with that (by NewSpace standards). Should Odin succeed (flyby reconnaissance is not new these days), later rounds of funding will raise money for later steps. We, the small-body community, certainly have nothing to lose from another builder who can do flyby observation. Go AF!