Asteroid mining start-up to launch first missionsBy Loren Grush / BloombergAsteroid mining start-up AstroForge Inc is planning to launch its first two missions to space this year as it seeks to extract and refine metals from deep space. The missions are part of AstroForge’s goal of refining platinum-group metals from asteroids, with the aim of bringing down the cost of mining these metals. The company is planning to then launch its second craft, to scout out a previously identified near-Earth asteroid for a future mining mission. AstroForge is not announcing the target, and says it will probably not do so until it is done mining the asteroid. AstroForge’s emergence in the space industry comes a few years after the demise of an asteroid mining boom.
