This week on Pathfinder, we welcome back Matt Gialich, cofounder and CEO of AstroForge, to discuss the company’s plans to mine platinum group metals from near-Earth asteroids and its recent Series A funding. 

In this episode, Matt provides updates on AstroForge’s upcoming missions, the challenges of developing a cost-effective method for extracting and refining space resources, and how the company is addressing the technical complexities of deep space exploration. He also delves into the specifics of the $40 million Series A round, which will support AstroForge's next two missions, and how the company is balancing risk with innovation to lower costs.

In addition, we cover:

• AstroForge’s approach to refining metals in space and their proprietary low-power refinery
• The economics of the asteroid mining market
• Lessons learned from previous mining efforts
• The importance of scalability and mission flexibility
• The regulatory landscape and its evolution as the industry grows

And much more…

• Chapters •

00:00 - Intro

00:48 - Matt's background and AstroForge

01:52 - Platinum group metals and why we need to mine them

04:14 - Beyond just platinum mining

08:27 - Bird scooters to JPL

11:40 - What makes space mining companies fail and who are AstroForge's current competitors?

15:37 - How large is the PGM market today?

18:34 - Developments at AstroForge since July 2023

21:46 - Plan for Mission 2

23:32 - How do you choose (and image) an asteroid?

27:19 - What does the architecture of the end system look like

28:13 - Materials processing

28:51 - Technical challenges

31:08 - Cost vs Risk

36:32 - State of space mining regulation and how it will evolve

38:25 - How other countries are viewing space mining

44:18 - Plans with Series A proceeds

45:03 - Common investor misconceptions

48:53 - Government contracts

50:10 - Long- term vision

51:20 - Are we ready for a killer asteroid?

53:49 - Who's playing Matt in the movie about AstroForge?
 

• Show notes •

AstroForge’s website — https://www.astroforge.com/

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 19,000+ 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.

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