The archive · Space, Robots, Defence · Strategic decision · 2022–2026
AstroForge bets asteroid mining works; Odin lost, Vestri lands in 2026
AstroForge launches the first private deep-space mission on a $3.5M spacecraft, loses Odin after launch, and keeps a $55M bet alive with lander Vestri.
AstroForge
What the business is
AstroForge builds small, low-cost spacecraft to prospect, land on, and eventually mine metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, with the goal of returning platinum-group metals to Earth.
Starting capital：US$55M total raised as of August 2024, including a US$40M Series A led by Nova Threshold (SpaceNews); Odin itself cost roughly US$3.5M and was built in 10 months (Engadget).
How it started
AstroForge was founded in 2022, and CEO Matt Gialich's original thesis was that commercial space had matured enough to let a startup horizontally integrate the spacecraft, communications, and payload. As he later told SpaceNews, 'Both of those were wrong' — the company had to bring spacecraft engineering in-house.
What happened
The first mission, cubesat Brokkr-1 (2023), lost communications before its refinery demo. The second, Odin (originally Brokkr-2), failed vibration testing in March 2024; AstroForge pulled the build in-house, rebuilt the spacecraft in about 3.5 months, and held to the IM-2 rideshare slot. Odin launched February 26, 2025 toward asteroid 2022 OB5, but contact was lost days later.
How it ended up
Odin never reached 2022 OB5, but AstroForge framed the mission as a learning win and is preparing Vestri, a ~200 kg lander slated for a 2026 launch on Intuitive Machines' IM-3 mission to attempt the first private soft landing on a metal-rich asteroid.
Background
AstroForge is betting that asteroid mining can be built startup-style: small spacecraft, SpaceX rideshare launches, and missions that cost millions instead of the billions governments spend. Founded in 2022, the company had raised US$55M by August 2024 and targeted platinum-group metals on metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, with the stated goal of returning the first platinum to Earth before the end of the decade.
The road was rough. Brokkr-1, a 2023 cubesat meant to test refinery tech, lost communications before its demo. Odin failed vibration testing in March 2024, so the team rebuilt the 120 kg spacecraft in-house in about 3.5 months and still made the Intuitive Machines IM-2 launch on February 26, 2025. CEO Matt Gialich told SpaceNews the deadline was existential: 'We're either on IM-2 or we're not a company.'
Odin became the first private spacecraft to head beyond the Moon, but contact was lost within days, and the 2022 OB5 flyby never happened. AstroForge called it a learning win and moved to Vestri, a ~200 kg lander slated for a 2026 launch on IM-3 to attempt the first private soft landing on an asteroid and characterize its composition for future mining.
What has to be true
- Rideshare economics made a deep-space mission affordable enough for a startup to attempt with a ~$3.5M spacecraft.
- Failing fast in-house beat waiting for a perfect vendor build when the company had one hard launch deadline.
- Platinum-group metal prices make even a small returned sample valuable enough to anchor a mission thesis.
- Each mission built the next: lost spacecraft still left the team with a tested build process and a lander program.
What can be applied
When you cannot afford the flagship, make failure cheap enough to learn from: a lost $3.5M spacecraft still bought the team in-house build capability and a shot at the next mission.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02 AstroForge remains active. It raised a $40M Series A in August 2024 (US$55M total), lost Odin shortly after its February 2025 launch, and is building Vestri for a 2026 launch as a rideshare on Intuitive Machines' IM-3 mission. Vestri is designed to attempt the first private soft landing on a metal-rich asteroid and quantify extractable metals; no further funding round has been announced.
Sources
- 1st private spacecraft to attempt to travel beyond the moon appears to be in trouble
- AstroForge raises $40 million
- The first private asteroid mission probe is probably lost in deep space
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