AstroForge has lost contact with its first private spacecraft designed for asteroid exploration.
The American private space company AstroForge, which aims to mine metals from asteroids, announced that its first spacecraft for exploring these celestial bodies, named "Odin," lost contact with Earth shortly after its launch into space.
2025-03-03 10:00:32https://naked-science.ru/community/1034781
“Odin” set off into space with the landing module “Athena” on February 27, 2025. Communication was lost 20 hours after launch.
Although the spacecraft's solar panels are operational and “Odin” is following its planned trajectory, the data it has collected cannot be retrieved.
The device, developed by AstroForge to study the asteroid 2022 OB5 with the aim of future resource extraction, was intended to analyze the surface of the space rock without landing on it.
AstroForge has noted that the chances of re-establishing communication are diminishing; however, the team is still making efforts.