
A startup actively launching missions (Brokkr-1, Brokkr-2) to prospect and refine platinum-group metals from asteroids.

Origin Space
China · Startup
Chinese private company that launched 'NEO-1', a prototype robot for asteroid mining prospecting and debris removal.

United States · Startup
Developing 'capture bag' technology originally for asteroid mining, now applied to capturing orbital debris.
Hosts the Center for Space Resources, a leading academic hub for ISRU research and education.

Honeybee Robotics
United States · Company
Develops advanced robotic systems for planetary exploration, specifically drilling and sampling tools essential for extracting subsurface ice and regolith.
Leading long-term research into SBSP, with plans to demonstrate power transmission from orbit by 2025.
Developing spacecraft to mine Near-Earth Asteroids for water and minerals to support sustainable space exploration.
Led the OSIRIS-REx mission, developing techniques for mapping, prospecting, and sampling asteroid Bennu.
Develops autonomous lunar rovers designed for resource prospecting and environmental monitoring.
Asteroid mining prospecting uses robotic spacecraft including cubesats and small landers equipped with spectrometers, imagers, and sampling systems to survey near-Earth asteroids and characterize their composition, identifying valuable resources including water (for propellant and life support), precious metals, and rare earth elements. These prospecting missions create resource catalogs that inform future mining operations and help identify the most valuable targets for extraction.
This innovation addresses the first step in enabling space resource utilization, where understanding what resources are available and where they are located is essential before extraction can begin. By prospecting asteroids, these missions identify valuable targets, assess extraction feasibility, and create the knowledge base needed for commercial mining operations. Companies backed by Luxembourg and other nations, along with NASA missions, are developing these capabilities.
The technology is essential for enabling the space resource economy, where asteroid mining could provide materials for space construction, propellant for deep-space missions, and rare materials for Earth. As prospecting missions succeed and identify valuable targets, they pave the way for commercial mining operations that could transform space economics. However, the technology faces challenges including the cost of prospecting missions, the difficulty of characterizing asteroids remotely, and the long timeline from prospecting to profitable extraction. The technology represents an important first step toward space resource utilization, but significant development is still needed.