Every day we get closer to mining the final frontier, just like in science fiction. Space mining is a complicated task as you’d imagine. But it starts with surveying asteroids and other objects outside of our planet. The first goal is to identify bodies that are rich in resources society needs. Once identified, mining operations and machinery are deployed to extract those resources. This is the current state in which the best asteroid mining stocks could form.

This industry, to mine the final frontier, is still in the very early stages. But startup companies have emerged for future mining. As a result, none of the companies mentioned in this column are currently publicly trading. If you are willing to play the long game, identifying asteroid mining stocks now could prove extremely profitable. On the other hand, if you’re adamant about getting in on the space industry now, there are a few other space stocks to consider.

As of 2024, asteroid mining companies are in the design stages. That is, the designing of satellites, robotic machines and all the other advanced tech needed to excavate resources from asteroids. I have identified what I think are the three best asteroid mining companies positioned to mine asteroids and other celestial bodies for investors to keep an eye on before they go public.

Asteroid Mining Corporation

The Asteroid Mining Corporation was founded in 2016 and is based in the U.K. Its area of expertise is robotics to do the work of mining metals and other resources. To that end, they have already built the six-legged prototype called the Space Capable Asteroid Robotic Explorer, (SCAR-E for short). The explorer grips the surface as it walks, allowing it to operate in low gravity conditions.

This technological research and development is in partnership with Tohoku University Space Robotics Laboratory, in Japan.

The company plan is for a demonstration mission analyzing soil on the Moon, as early as 2026. The strategy behind this and longer-term plans is to self-fund as much as possible. To that end, their SCAR-E robot will be used here on Earth to inspect ship hulls, tapping into a $13 Billion market. This will pay for their space exploration which so far has still brought $0.

TransAstra

Founded in 2015 and based in Los Angeles, California, TransAstra develops technology to detect, move, capture and process mining targets.

One of those niches focuses on optical mining technology. Simply put, it concentrates light from the sun to extract minerals from asteroids, moons and planets.

This technology aims to produce large-scale mining of water and materials for rocket propulsion. The value of this is it makes human space exploration more feasible and lightens the stress on Earth’s own resources.

This isn’t TransAstra’s only area of expertise. The company also sells telescopes and software that detects asteroids, for other companies to then mine. The asteroid 16 Psyche contains $100,000 quadrillion worth of precious metals, including gold, platinum, and nickel. So one can imagine the value of a company like TransAstra to find more asteroids like that.

TransAstra finds these asteroids using their patented patented Theia software. This software can be applied to off-the-shelf hardware to find such asteroid bodies and could one day make TransAstra one of the best asteroid mining stocks if it goes public.

AstroForge

AstroForge is a much newer company, founded in 2022 and based in Huntington Beach, California. It hit the ground running with two space missions in 2023 with SpaceX.

The first mission in April was to demonstrate their refinery capabilities. This aimed to achieve the goal of technology validations, where they’d perform live extractions in zero gravity. Difficulties were encountered but valuable lessons were learned from the mission.

The October 2023 mission was to head into deep space and study a target asteroid in preparation for the first mineral retrieval mission.

Jose Acain has experience with SpaceX and NASA under his belt, and Matt Gialich has led engineering teams at Virgin Orbit. But the two co-founders are keeping their feet on the ground. Recognizing the grand nature of space exploration, Gialich warns “We’re going to have a lot of failures”.

This managing of expectations should be heeded by potential investors in this industry. This industry has a long-term outlook with many twists and turns.

On the date of publication, Sam Farnham did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or
indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.