Oroff

Meet Oroff.

Oroff is the world’s first company purpose-built for planetary defense, with a primary mission to define and develop techniques that safeguard Earth's skies and protect humanity's assets from potential planetary impacts.

The Team

Brian Murphy

Oroff logo

About Us 

I am a 3rd year Ph.D. Student at the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, where I research comets, asteroids, and planetary defense. I have led innovative Martian ice cap research at the Florida Institute of Technology, completed an internship with Cassini at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, am researching bioastronautics at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, and am currently supporting NASA and ESA planetary defense missions at the University of Edinburgh. I was awarded the Out Astronaut grant in 2021, which will fund, train, and fly me on a suborbital spaceflight while expanding my base in astronautics.Further awards and distinctions include the renowned Astronaut Scholarship, Apollo Scholarship, Distinguished Student Awards, Student Leader Awards, 2022 Humanitarian of the Year Award, and honored Delegate at the United Nations Space Generations Advisory Council. In my spare time, I loved to connect with the Earth through gardening, hiking, foraging, fishing, and helping in archeological digs. 

Problem

Oroff addresses a key gap in space domain awareness: the lack of ability to track and respond to inbound asteroids or comets that pose an impact risk to Earth or in-space assets. The known population of these hazardous objects (that are larger than the Pyramid of Giza) is set to grow tenfold in the next decade, underscoring the importance of reliable and rapid planetary defense techniques.

Solution

Oroff aims to offer cost-effective, rapid, and reliable planetary defense missions to national and global governments on single-service and long-term contracts. Oroff will redirect the orbits of hazardous objects away from national airspace, critical assets, and ground or space-based infrastructure through our innovative and autonomous spacecraft fleet. Our first concept mission, LOKI, aims to undertake our first test on the asteroid Apophis in 2029, with further missions thereafter.

Market

Since 2010, U.S. spending on planetary defense has increased 40-fold, with Congress, the U.S. Space Force, and NASA outlining key strategic goals for the coming decades. One of the most critical goals is the development of planetary defense systems and object redirection techniques—an area where Oroff aims to establish a strong foothold and enter this emerging market. Conservative projections estimate that the planetary defense market could reach tens of billions of USD by 2050. By focusing on spacecraft and redirection technology development, Oroff will be ideally positioned to diversify into resource mining, station-keeping, and other sectors as the Earth-Moon economy grows to exceed two trillion USD by the same date. Join us in shaping the planetary defense market of today and building the world of tomorrow.

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