K+ Mission 1

Why it matters

Apophis passes about 32,000 km from Earth in April 2029, an unusually easy target. Karman+ argues asteroid missions can cost $10 million or less, against roughly $1 billion for past government ones, and wants to prove it here.

How the technology works

Karman+ develops about 80% of its spacecraft in-house to cut cost and designs it to fly autonomously. In 2025 the first mission, then called High Frontier, was planned for a Transporter rideshare to low Earth orbit, then a self-propelled trip to a near-Earth asteroid to mine about 1 kg of material.

In July 2026 the company retargeted it to Apophis and moved launch to mid-2028.