On February 26, 2025, California-based startup AstroForge launched the Odin spacecraft to an asteroid in the first private mission of its kind. The probe was sent into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, but contact with it was lost shortly after launch, Engadget reports.
"The chance of talking with Odin is minimal, as at this point, the accuracy of its position is becoming an issue," the startup said in a statement. AstroForge also noted that technical issues had occurred at the main ground station in Australia, but other issues could also have occurred on the probe itself, preventing further communication.
The Odin module, which took 10 months to build at a cost of $3.5 million, was the first privately built spacecraft to attempt such a long distance.
Although contact with Odin was lost, the startup remains optimistic that the launch provided valuable experience for the further development of the AstroForge project to create and manage an asteroid module. One of the company's main targets is the asteroid 2022 OB5, on which they plan to land a module to extract valuable resources.