---
title: "Chinese Startup Launching Space Mining Robot in November"
description: "Beijing-based private space mining company Origin Space is launching its first ever \"space mining robot\" in November on top of a Long March series rocket."
date: "2020-09-17"
modified: "2020-09-17"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-startup-space-mining-robot"
categories:
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "long march space rockets"
  - "space mining"
  - "the digest"
---

# Chinese Startup Launching Space Mining Robot in November

![Beijing-based private space mining company Origin Space is launching its first ever "space mining robot" in November on top of a Long March series rocket.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/chinese-startup-space-mining-robot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Planetary Resources\</em\>*

## Space Mining Bot

Beijing-based private space mining company Origin Space is launching its first ever "space mining robot" in November, [*IEEE Spectrum* reports](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/china-to-launch-space-mining-bot>), on top of a Long March series rocket.

The concept of excavating resources in space is highly controversial. Many scientists [have called](<https://futurism.com/scientists-stop-space-mining-solar-system>) for the solar system to be protected from such practices — but that hasn't stopped global superpowers, particularly the US and China, from investigating ways to do so.

## Tech Demo

It may become a milestone moment in the country's efforts to make use of space resources — but the robot, dubbed NEO-1, won't be mining any asteroids itself.

Its job in Earth's orbit will be to "verify and demonstrate multiple functions such as spacecraft orbital maneuver, simulated small celestial body capture, intelligent spacecraft identification and control," as Yu Tianhong, an Origin Space co-founder, told *IEEE Spectrum*.

A separate optical telescope called Yuanwang-1, nicknamed "Little Hubble," will be launched some time next year to identify suitable space mining targets.

## Space Mining Race

China isn't the only country set on taking advantage of in situ resources in space. US president Donald Trump [recently signed an executive order](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-executive-order-moon-asteroid-mining>) that encourages the mining of resources on the Moon and asteroids.

NASA is now pursuing mission concepts to explore the possibilities of mining asteroids and lunar craters. Just last week, the [agency announced](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-buying-moon-dirt-rocks-companies>) that it’s soliciting commercial companies to collect space resources, including Moon "dirt" — and sell it to them.

**READ MORE:** [China to Launch Space Mining Bot](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/china-to-launch-space-mining-bot>) \[*IEEE Spectrum*\]

**More on space mining:** *[Trump Signs Executive Order Encouraging Moon, Asteroid Mining](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-executive-order-moon-asteroid-mining>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)