February 5, 2025
Space mining company identifies asteroid target for launch
A U.S. asteroid-mining company has announced the target space rock for its upcoming test mission.
California-based AstroForge has identified asteroid 2022 OB5 as the destination for its Mission 2 spacecraft, named Odin, which is set to launch next month, SpaceNews reports. The Odin spacecraft will be flying as a secondary payload aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will send Intuitive Machines' IM-2 lander toward the moon.
Odin will separate shortly after the Falcon 9 upper stage fires its engines to head for the moon. The launch window for the mission opens no earlier than Feb. 26.
Asteroid prospecting company AstroForge, California based, has been awarded the first-ever commercial license for operating and communicating with a spacecraft in deep space, ahead of its Odin mission that's set to launch and rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid in early 2025.
(Image credit: AstroForge
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