Nearly every ground station experienced some kind of failure:

• Wrong configuration
• Incorrect pointing coordinates
• An unexpected loss of a power amplifier the day before our launch
• Interference from a recently built cell tower that, although not in our frequency band, created enough noise to disrupt communications
• Insufficient mid-path gain, meaning weak signals were not getting to our radio receiver
https://www.astroforge.com/updates/odint-mission-debrief

“A single one-kilometer-diameter asteroid, if it was platinum-bearing, would contain about 117,000 tons of #platinum. That’s about 680 years of global supply. You’re talking about centuries of platinum demand from a single #asteroid ”. #Odin will arrive in late 2025 after a journey of about 300 days to #2022OB5 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/science/astroforge-launch-asteroid-mining.html

Recent missions to rendezvous with and to orbit and land on #asteroids have demonstrated that #SpaceMining could be just a matter of time https://phys.org/news/2024-10-asteroid-potential-trillion-dollar-industry.html

One of two metallic #asteroids floating in Earth's vicinity could boast more #iron, #nickel and #cobalt than the entirety of our #global metal reserves. https://www.cnet.com/science/rare-asteroids-near-earth-may-become-targets-for-space-mining/

#AstroForge launches the #Odin mission in January 2025. A third attempt is planned for late 2025. The fourth mission will focus on extracting and refining #asteroids’ metals before returning to Earth https://www.mining.com/astroforge-secures-first-ever-commercial-license-for-asteroid-mission/

#AsteroidMining has the potential to disrupt global #economic structures by introducing new sources of #minerals and #metals. While the cost of asteroid mining is currently high, long-term economic returns could outweigh these if the abundance of resources in asteroids is harnessed effectively and if #SpaceIndustrialization follows, reducing transportation costs. https://spacevoyageventures.com/the-economics-of-asteroid-mining-potential-and-pitfalls/

And barring Civilisational collapse (always possible) it will happen.
NASA has already sending a probe to the most promising (and perhaps weirdest) rock in the Belt, Psyche.
This world once had volcanoes of pure metal!

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche

#NASA has contracts with four companies to gather a small amount of material from the lunar surface—as a proof of concept to show that extraction is possible.
NASA doesn’t have a similar demonstration for mining #asteroids. But the space rock seekers nevertheless continue their quest for treasure. They believe Earth needs, and will pay handily for, what space has to offer. https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/in-the-race-for-space-metals-companies-hope-to-cash-in/

#AstroForge plans to piggyback on a robotic mission to the #moon in 2024 by #IntuitiveMachines, launched * on a #SpaceX #Falcon9 rocket.
During the journey to the moon, the plan is for #Odin to be released and to venture into #DeepSpace beyond lunar orbit. Within a year the #spacecraft will fly past the #asteroid , taking pictures in the process and looking for evidence of #metal https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/science/secret-asteroid-mission-astroforge.html

* Feb 10, 2024 https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/1915

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPy8hH86LY

#AstroForge https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=AstroForge