Key takeaways
- Bringing a sample back from an asteroid is real: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx delivered 121.6 grams of material from asteroid Bennu to Earth in September 2023. That is science, not mining.
- NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on its way to a metal-rich asteroid but will only study it, arriving in August 2029.
- The first private asteroid mission, AstroForge’s Odin, launched in February 2025 and the company said within about a week that the chance of talking with it was minimal. The company says it will try again.
- The Artemis Accords, signed by 78 nations as of October 28, 2026, say that extracting and using space resources should follow the Outer Space Treaty.
This article is general information based on NASA, Space.com and company sources. It makes no prediction about the value of any asteroid or company.
Sampling is not mining
Two different things get mixed up in headlines. Sample return means a spacecraft collects a small amount of material and brings it to Earth for scientists to study. Mining would mean extracting resources in quantity, to use or sell. So far only the first has been done.
What has been done: OSIRIS-REx and Bennu
NASA says its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft “delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu when it returned to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space and over twice the mission’s requirement.” The team needed at least 60 grams for its science goals. That is a small amount: the material is for laboratory science, not industry.
What is next: NASA’s Psyche
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft launched on October 13, 2023 on a mission to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name. NASA says scientists think it has a high metal content and may be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet. It is due to begin its prime mission by August 2029 and will spend about two years orbiting the asteroid to take pictures, map the surface, and determine its composition. It’s an orbiter. It will not bring anything back or mine anything.
What private companies have tried
AstroForge, a California startup that wants to mine asteroids for platinum-group metals, launched its first deep-space probe, Odin, on February 26, 2025, on the same SpaceX rocket that carried a private Moon lander. Space.com reported that Odin ran into trouble within hours and that the company wrote on March 6: “The chance of talking with Odin is minimal, as at this point, the accuracy of its position is becoming an issue.” Odin was built in less than 10 months for $3.5 million, and was meant to fly past a small asteroid called 2022 OB5 to collect images, paving the way for a landing mission. The company’s leading theory was a problem with its solar panels.
AstroForge’s website now lists a mission called Deepspace-2 as “launching 2026,” described as the first commercial rendezvous with a body outside the planetary gravity well. A rendezvous is a meeting, not mining. We could not confirm whether it has launched.
What are the rules?
NASA says the Artemis Accords, established in 2020, are a set of principles for civil space exploration; 78 nations had signed as of October 28, 2026, when Vietnam joined. On space resources, NASA says the Accords “reinforce that space resource extraction and utilization can and should be executed in a manner that complies with the Outer Space Treaty and in support of safe and sustainable space activities.” They also provide for temporary “safety zones” around operations, in which signatories notify one another and commit to coordinate to avoid harmful interference.
Not every country has signed, and the Accords are political commitments, not a global law on ownership. This article doesn’t try to settle who can own what.
Why it’s hard
- Distance and cost. Missions take years. Psyche launched in 2023 and arrives in 2029.
- Technology. Odin’s loss shows how hard even a flyby is for a small team.
- Unproven economics. We found no verified evidence that any company has made a profit from asteroid resources. Figures you may see about an asteroid being “worth” huge sums are not market values.
- Rules still developing. The Artemis Accords are a start, but they are agreements among signatory nations.
So, science fiction or gold rush?
The sources show a middle path: real sampling, real exploration missions, and startups trying and sometimes failing. Mining in the sense of extracting and selling resources has not happened. Whether it will remains an open question, and the evidence in this article doesn’t settle it.
Frequently asked questions
Has anyone mined an asteroid? No. Spacecraft have returned samples for study, such as 121.6 grams from asteroid Bennu, but no resources have been mined and sold.
What is NASA’s Psyche mission? A spacecraft heading to a metal-rich asteroid, launched October 13, 2023, due to arrive by August 2029 and orbit it for about two years. It will study the asteroid, not mine it.
What happened to AstroForge’s Odin? It launched in February 2025, and the company said in March that the chance of communicating with it was minimal.
Is space mining legal? NASA says the Artemis Accords support resource extraction consistent with the Outer Space Treaty. Rules are still developing.
Information checked on: November 13, 2026. Missions and agreements change, so check current sources.
Sources
- NASA, “NASA Announces OSIRIS-REx Bulk Sample Mass” (February 15, 2024)
- NASA, Psyche mission page (science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche)
- NASA, Artemis Accords (nasa.gov/artemis-accords)
- Mike Wall, Space.com, “Hope is all but lost for private asteroid probe in deep space” (March 7, 2025)
- AstroForge, Missions page (astroforge.com/missions)
