AstroForge Secures FCC License for Historic Deep-Space Mining Mission

AstroForge has received the first-ever commercial license from the FCC for a deep-space mission, allowing it to communicate with its Odin spacecraft, which is set to launch in early 2025 to rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid. The mission aims to demonstrate key stages of asteroid mining, although no actual mining will occur. Odin will orbit and image the asteroid, paving the way for the Vestri mission, which will attempt to land on the asteroid. The original Odin spacecraft was abandoned due to manufacturing issues, prompting a rapid development of a new spacecraft.