TransAstra

TransAstra (Trans Astronautica Corporation) is a Los Angeles-based aerospace company building the infrastructure for a spacefaring civilization through deep space logistics, asteroid mining, and in-space resource utilization. Founded in 2017, TransAstra has received backing from NASA, DARPA, AFRL, Space Force, and Y Combinator — the broadest government space-technology investment portfolio of any startup in the sector. The company's technology roadmap centers on four core capabilities: Detect (space domain awareness telescope networks), Capture (orbital debris and asteroid capture systems), Move (solar thermal propulsion for space logistics), and Process (in-situ resource utilization of asteroid materials). TransAstra's Omnivore solar thermal propulsion system can use almost any propellant including asteroid-derived water ice.