Space Business Podcast #94 Matt Gialich, AstroForge: Asteroid Mining

Asteroid mining – do I really need to say anything else to get you excited and curious about listening to this episode? My guest is Matt Gialich, the co-founder and CEO of AstroForge, an LA-based startup. Over a decade on from when the last asteroid mining companies started, AstroForge successfully raised a sizable seed round last year. Asteroid mining is back - hear all about it in this episode, enjoy! Follow us: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space Instagram - brand new! @raphael_space www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those wanting to enter the space sector: https://www.spacecertificate.com Do you want to specifically learn about investing in Space? Join the pre-release of Raphael's new live-taught course on Maven:  https://maven.com/space-business-institute/investing-course The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast   Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:17 Elevator pitch 4:44 Do we really have to mine in space? 7:02 Background and Origin Story 11:51 Previous asteroid mining companies 13:51 Hitching a ride to the Moon 15:14 Lowering mission costs 16:18 Spacecraft specs 17:38 Technology limitations 19:45 Mission objectives and timeline 21:18 Extraction tech 21:56 Approaching an asteroid 23:23 Power budget 25:40 Scaling up 26:49 Potential vs. current (on Earth) PGM cost 30:13 Business model 31:44 Regulations 33:24 Geopolitics 34:24 Funding 35:57 Vision 36:41 Biggest risks and challenges  37:40 Current focus 39:00 Mining other things besides PGM 40:00 Sci-Fi