The Next Generation - Timing and the new wave of asteroid mining companies
The idea of asteroid mining has been around for a century, but actual activity to date has been very limited. Generation 1 ranged from 2010 to 2020 and saw lots of press releases and plans but very little activity. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries had nice videos and press coverage, but not a lot of hardware and no missions before they folded. Transastra is still around, but has been bouncing from research grant to research grant without plans or ability to do anything in orbit. Decent ideas, poor timing.
Our next generation is more international (UK-based Asteroid Mining Corporation, US-based Exlabs and AstroForge, China-based Origin Space) and seems to be able to attract some funding. We also believe the timing to be much better, although the critical path to success still feels very narrow and steep.
We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone navigates this!
