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Asteroid Mining Startups Race to Unlock Celestial Riches
13 Nov
Summary
- Asteroids contain valuable metals, offering sustainable alternative to Earth mining
- TransAstra develops Capture Bag to grab and move asteroids and space debris
- Company plans to capture first asteroid by 2028, aiming to kickstart space industry
As of November 13, 2025, several startups are racing to unlock the wealth of resources contained in asteroids. One such company, California-based TransAstra, has developed a device called the Capture Bag - an inflatable bag that can catch anything from small rocks to house-sized boulders. The company aims to solve the key challenges of asteroid mining, which include detecting, capturing, moving, and processing the space rocks.
TransAstra has already deployed a network of telescopes, dubbed "Sutter" after the California gold rush, to prospect for suitable asteroids. The company plans to use its Capture Bag technology to grab and move these asteroids, with the goal of capturing the first one by 2028. This, they believe, will kickstart a true industrial revolution in space.
While collecting asteroid samples has proven difficult and costly in the past, TransAstra's approach of using the versatile Capture Bag could make asteroid mining more feasible. The company has already tested a smaller version of the bag on the International Space Station and is now developing a larger, 10-meter version with funding from NASA. This larger bag will be used not only for asteroid capture but also for cleaning up space debris, which is an increasing concern for governments and scientists.
