A privately-built spacecraft has blasted off on an unprecedented mission to scout an asteroid for potential mining.
The probe, named Odin, was launched on a SpaceX rocket to survey asteroid 2022 OB5.
The mission is led by startup AstroForge and aims to determine if the asteroid contains valuable platinum and other metals.
This high-risk venture heralds a new dawn of commercial exploitation of celestial bodies.
The probe, named Odin, was launched on a SpaceX rocket to survey asteroid 2022 OB5
NASA
The asteroid is believed to be rich in platinum and similar metals, which are critical for electronic, medical and green technology.
Matt Gialich, co-founder of AstroForge, told Sky News that mining these metals on Earth costs £25,000 per kilo.
He said: "The problem is that on Earth we have mined all of the good sources of platinum group metals.
"Everything we're looking at now is thousands of meters under the Earth."
Odin will take 300 days to catch up with the asteroid one million miles from Earth.
The probe will take close-up images of the surface to confirm it is metallic.
The 330ft asteroid is travelling at nearly 30mph a second.
AstroForge founder Matthew Gialich described it as "the first commercial mission past the Moon".
Odin will take 300 days to catch up with the asteroid one million miles from Earth
NASA
The company plans to conduct a fly-by approximately 1km away from the asteroid.
"But we know this exists in space. We know it's readily available. For our mission, instead of going down, we want to go up," Gialich explained.
He believes the economics of space mining are becoming viable.
He explained: "The cost of space has gotten so much cheaper than it's ever been.
"The economics are starting to make a lot of sense. We can build and launch a really low-cost spacecraft to go take a stab at it."
AstroForge has developed a low-energy refining technique that it says can produce 1000kg of high-quality metal in three months.
The company plans to land a second spacecraft on the asteroid later this year to test for platinum and other elements.
If the asteroid is as rich in metals as hoped, the first mining expeditions could follow.
The 330ft asteroid is travelling at nearly 30mph a second
NASA
The precious cargo would then be returned to Earth.
Professor Sara Russell, an expert in cosmic mineralogy at the Natural History Museum in London, told Sky News: "Metallic asteroids are rarer than stoney ones.
"But they make up quite a substantial part of our collection, so we know they are out there in space."
"We know they are incredibly rich in elements like platinum, cobalt and nickel. They are a fantastic resource for many metals."
Gialich said the time was right for rethinking how humanity mines resources.
"The way we mine today is one of the most damaging processes on Earth," he said.
"We are destroying our planet to allow us to live in the way we live. Asteroid mining opens up a new gate to maintain our way of life, cost free."
