B612 Foundation
B612 Foundation is a Mill Valley, California nonprofit founded in 2002 (named for the asteroid in The Little Prince) focused on planetary defense — detecting and characterizing potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) before they can threaten Earth.
- Founded
- 2002
- Headquarters
- Mill Valley, United States
- Ownership
- Private
Quick Facts
About B612 Foundation
B612 Foundation is a Mill Valley, California nonprofit founded in 2002 (named for the asteroid in The Little Prince) focused on planetary defense — detecting and characterizing potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) before they can threaten Earth. The foundation's most ambitious project was the Sentinel Space Telescope, a proposed infrared space telescope that would have cataloged far more near-Earth objects (NEOs) than ground-based programs, but struggled to raise the $450M needed.
B612 pivoted to partner with existing telescope networks (including the Catalina Sky Survey and the AsteroidHunters citizen science platform using machine learning to identify asteroids in Subaru Telescope data). The foundation advocates for planetary defense funding and policy at NASA and internationally. B612's work became more mainstream after NASA's successful DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) impact demonstration in September 2022 showed asteroid deflection is technically feasible.
Signals
- Verification
- Verified 2026-09-05
Links
Location
Loading map...
Share
Suggest an Edit
Is this information outdated or incorrect? Help us improve this profile.
Submit CorrectionExplore More
Discover 1,000+ space companies worldwide
Similar Companies
Other companies in defense
Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a nonprofit Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) established in El Segu...
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) is a Lexington, Massachusetts-based federally funded research and development center (FF...
Johns Hopkins APL Space
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL), founded in 1942 and located in Laurel, Maryland, is a nat...
Lawrence Livermore Space
Lawrence Livermore Space, operating as part of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is a research and developm...
Penn State Applied Research Lab
The Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University is a Department of Defense (DoD) designated University Af...
Phantom Works Space
Phantom Works Space is a research and development division of The Boeing Company, located in Huntington Beach, Californi...
Also in United States
Other space companies based in United States
Frequently asked about B612 Foundation
Quick answers to the questions readers most often search for.
- When was B612 Foundation founded?
- B612 Foundation was founded in 2002 in United States.
- Where is B612 Foundation headquartered?
- B612 Foundation is headquartered in Mill Valley, United States.
- What does B612 Foundation do?
- B612 Foundation is a Mill Valley, California nonprofit founded in 2002 (named for the asteroid in The Little Prince) focused on planetary defense — detecting and characterizing potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) before they can threaten Earth. The foundation's most ambitious project was the Sentinel Space Telescope…
- Is B612 Foundation a public or private company?
- B612 Foundation is a non-profit organisation and is not listed on any stock exchange.
- What sector does B612 Foundation operate in?
- B612 Foundation works in defense and Research.
Sources
The structured fields on this page (founding year, location, sector, status, listing) and the profile text are drawn from the sources below. How profiles are drafted and checked is described in our methodology.
- Official website (b612foundation.org)
- Wikidata / Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-09-05
Data Accuracy Notice: Information about B612 Foundation is compiled from publicly available sources including company websites, press releases, regulatory filings, and industry reports. Data is reviewed periodically but may not reflect the most recent developments.