Space Business Podcast Space Business Podcast #94 Matt Gialich, AstroForge: Asteroid Mining
Asteroid mining – do I really need to say anything else to get you excited and curious about listening to this episode? My guest is Matt Gialich, the co-founder and CEO of AstroForge, an LA-based startup. Over a decade on from when the last asteroid mining companies started, AstroForge successfully raised a sizable seed round last year. Asteroid mining is back - hear all about it in this episode, enjoy!
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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
2:17 Elevator pitch
4:44 Do we really have to mine in space?
7:02 Background and Origin Story
11:51 Previous asteroid mining companies
13:51 Hitching a ride to the Moon
15:14 Lowering mission costs
16:18 Spacecraft specs
17:38 Technology limitations
19:45 Mission objectives and timeline
21:18 Extraction tech
21:56 Approaching an asteroid
23:23 Power budget
25:40 Scaling up
26:49 Potential vs. current (on Earth) PGM cost
30:13 Business model
31:44 Regulations
33:24 Geopolitics
34:24 Funding
35:57 Vision
36:41 Biggest risks and challenges
37:40 Current focus
39:00 Mining other things besides PGM
40:00 Sci-Fi