Valley of Depth Mining Asteroids, with Matt Gialich (AstroForge)
Today’s Pathfinder episode features AstroForge cofounder and CEO Matt Gialich. The CA-based startup is developing technology to mine asteroids for platinum group metals. The company plans to use an uncrewed spacecraft to extract and refine the metals directly on the asteroid before returning to Earth with a sellable metal.
Why platinum? The platinum group metals have unique physical and chemical properties that make them critical to everything from catalytic converters to electronics. According to Gialich, the US has a dwindling supply of platinum group ore reserves, and Russia and China control a significant supply of global stocks. But there’s hope in the heavens: a single one-kilometer-diameter M-type (primarily composed of metallic iron and nickel) asteroid could contain more platinum than has been mined in the history of humanity, Gialich said.
So far…AstroForge launched a refinery demo this spring and plans to launch a prospecting mission in October where they will physically go to an asteroid to map and monitor the surface. Future missions will include excavation and finally mining.
A sneak peek…Mo and Matt discuss:
- The history of landing on asteroids
- The basics of asteroid mining
- The economics of mining off-planet
- Legal and regulatory considerations
And much more…
This episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/
• Chapters •
00:00 - Intro and SpiderOak ad
02:07 - The early days of AstroForge
02:51 - Why asteroid mining today?
06:58 - Cofounder backgrounds
08:14 - Asteroid mining 101
11:48 - Platinum group metals
13:10 - Historical asteroid missions
17:23 - Refining materials on an asteroid
20:51 - Upcoming mission
22:33 - How unique is AstroForge's technology?
24:48 - Mission risks
27:32 - SpiderOak ad break
28:19 - Economics of asteroid mining
33:59 - AstroForge's first mission
34:31 - Outlook for the next few missions
34:55 - Scaling plans after a successful first mission
37:22 - Capital intensity of the venture
39:42 - Team construction
41:12 - Competition
42:13 - Legal & regulatory considerations of mining
46:30 - 10-year vision
49:28 - Future technologies for easier asteroid mining
51:27 - Favorite space companies
• Show notes •
AstroForge's website — https://www.astroforge.io/
AstroForge's socials — https://twitter.com/astroforge
Matt's socials — https://twitter.com/MattGialich
Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes
• About us •
Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers.
Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)