B612 Foundation
B612 Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds the open-source ADAM astrodynamics platform and Asteroid Institute programs to discover, map, and track asteroids for planetary defense, funded by individual donors, corporate grants, and partners including Google Cloud.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersMill Valley, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What B612 Foundation does
B612 Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2002 and headquartered in Mill Valley, California, whose mission is planetary defense against asteroid impacts. The foundation operates the Asteroid Institute, which has built the ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform — an open-source cloud-based astrodynamics system running on Google Cloud infrastructure (Kubernetes for orchestration, BigQuery for data handling). ADAM's proprietary THOR algorithm discovers and tracks asteroids without requiring traditional tracklets, and its ASSIST propagator delivers orbit precision comparable to NASA's JPL models; together these tools have enabled the discovery of 27,600+ previously unseen asteroids. Product surface has expanded from core discovery into ADAM::Precovery (archival search), ADAM::Impact Probability (public demo), and ADAM::Ephemeris (hosted position calculations launched May 2026).
The foundation is governed by a board chaired by Peter Schwartz and led operationally by President Danica Remy and Asteroid Institute Executive Director Dr. Edward Lu, supported by a strategic advisory bench that includes former astronauts, Nobel-adjacent astrophysicists (Lord Martin Rees, Roger Blandford), and notable technology figures (Vint Cerf, Jensen Huang, Brian May).
B612 has no commercial product revenue; it is funded through individual donations (credit card, PayPal, crypto via every.org), planned giving and bequests, gifts of stock and appreciated assets, corporate matching grants (notably a $1M challenge grant from Tito's Handmade Vodka in 2022), and a $50-per-discovery "Sponsor an ADAM Discovery" engagement product. Distribution is global via online donation portals and direct mail, while program awareness is driven by co-founded Asteroid Day events at partner venues (Lowell Observatory, Meteor Crater), a newsletter, and earned media.
B612 Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- B612 Foundation
- Legal name
- B612 Foundation
- Website
- https://b612foundation.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- B612 Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds the open-source ADAM astrodynamics platform and Asteroid Institute programs to discover, map, and track asteroids for planetary defense, funded by individual donors, corporate grants, and partners including Google Cloud.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
B612 Foundation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Planetary Defense Software
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)
Keywords
Where B612 Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mill Valley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
B612 Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: The foundation receives donations from individual supporters through its online donation portal, accepting credit cards, PayPal, and cryptocurrency. Donations support the Asteroid Institute programs and ADAM platform development.
- Planned Giving and Bequests: The foundation accepts bequests and planned gifts which provide tax savings for donors while supporting planetary defense work.
- Sponsor an ADAM Discovery: Individuals can sponsor asteroid discoveries on the ADAM platform for $50, receiving a custom GIF, certificate, and link to the asteroid's orbit information. All proceeds support asteroid discovery work.
- Stock and Appreciated Asset Donations: The foundation accepts gifts of stock, valued based on IRS regulations at the mean of high and low value on the day credited.
- Corporate Grants and Matching Programs: The foundation receives matching challenge grants from corporate partners like Tito's Handmade Vodka ($1 million matching challenge for ADAM development).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Sponsor an ADAM Discovery |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
B612 Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
B612 Foundation develops and operates the ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform, an open-source cloud-based astrodynamics platform that enables discovery, mapping, and analysis of asteroids using proprietary algorithms like THOR. The foundation operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, funding planetary defense research through individual donations, corporate grants, and programs such as the Asteroid Institute and the Schweickart Prize.
Product overview
The B612 Foundation operates the Asteroid Institute, which has developed the ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform as its core product — an advanced open-source astrodynamics cloud platform for asteroid discovery, mapping, and analysis. ADAM integrates multiple sub-products and tools including ADAM::THOR (Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery), ADAM::Ephemeris, ADAM::Impact Probability Tool, and ADAM::Precovery, all built on cloud infrastructure and accessible via GitHub open-source libraries. The foundation also offers the Sponsor an ADAM Discovery program enabling public engagement, and operates the Schweickart Prize as an annual award program for planetary defense innovation. The platform has discovered over 27,000 previously unseen asteroids using algorithms that link observations across existing astronomical datasets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform: An advanced open-source astrodynamics platform designed to enable the discovery, mapping, and analysis of asteroids using cloud computing.
- Schweickart Prize
Products and services
- ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform Open-source cloud-based astrodynamics platform that enables discovery, mapping, and analysis of asteroids. Processes large astronomical datasets using cloud computing and provides algorithms such as THOR for tracklet-less discovery and ASSIST for orbit propagation. Used by the scientific community, including Rubin Observatory scientists preparing asteroid-hunting operations.
- Sponsor an ADAM Discovery Sponsorship program where donors support asteroid discoveries made on the ADAM platform for $50 each, receiving a custom GIF of the discovery, a link to an interactive orbit sketch, and an official certificate of sponsorship.
- Schweickart Prize Annual prize recognizing graduate students for innovative ideas in planetary defense. Winners receive a $10,000 grant and a museum-quality meteorite trophy, presented on International Asteroid Day (June 30).
Quantifiable outcome
- 27,600+ previously unseen asteroids discovered
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use B612 Foundation
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
B612 Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
B612 Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- York Space SystemsminorPartnership with York Space Systems for asteroid detection and tracking research.
- Google CloudcoreMajor infrastructure partner providing cloud computing resources. ADAM platform runs on Google Cloud using Kubernetes for job orchestration and BigQuery for data handling. Enables processing of millions of CPU hours for asteroid discovery analysis.
- University of Washington / DiRAC InstitutecoreAcademic partner for hackathons and research collaboration. Spring hackathons held at University of Washington's DiRAC Institute focused on asteroid detection algorithms.
- MSU-DenverminorPartnership with Metropolitan State University of Denver for research collaboration.
- Lowell ObservatorycorePartner for Asteroid Day Arizona events. Lowell astronomers contribute to asteroid detection, tracking, and planetary science research. Venue for Schweickart Prize award ceremony.
- Meteor CratercoreWorld's best-preserved asteroid impact site, partner for Asteroid Day events and planetary defense education. Hosts educational programs at the impact site.
- Meteor Crater Education AlliancecoreNonprofit partner bringing STEM learning experiences to Arizona and beyond. Creates hands-on experiences connecting learners with real science and exploration.
- SpaceFort FlagstaffminorLocal partner hosting Asteroid Day community STEM festival in Flagstaff, Arizona.
- Vera Rubin ObservatorycoreTelescope whose data is integrated into the ADAM platform. Observatory scientists preparing for operations using ADAM tools.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
B612 Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Planetary Society: The Planetary Society is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing space science and exploration via a comparable donor-supported model and similar mission-driven advocacy; B612's asteroid defense mandate closely parallels Planetary Society's planetary exploration focus.
- Asteroid Day: Asteroid Day is a global awareness nonprofit co-founded by B612 leaders (Danica Remy, Brian May, Rusty Schweickart); it shares B612's exact mission of public engagement around asteroid hazards and overlapping donor/partnership ecosystem.
- Slooh: Slooh is a citizen-science and education platform offering live telescope access for asteroid and astronomy tracking; it shares B612's donor/sponsor-supported model and its public-engagement angle on asteroid science.
- National Space Society: National Space Society is a U.S. 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit advocating space exploration and planetary defense; comparable in size, mission framing, and donor-supported nonprofit structure, with overlapping membership/audience to B612.
Emerging players
- LeoLabs: LeoLabs is a commercial space situational awareness company co-founded by B612 co-founder Dr. Ed Lu; it provides tracking services using a complementary radar-based approach targeting space debris and orbital objects, sharing leadership and adjacent technology to B612's asteroid work.
Others
- Catalina Sky Survey: Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona is an academic NEO discovery program operating competing survey telescopes; it is the dominant producer of asteroid discoveries and a direct technological comparator to B612's ADAM/THOR pipeline.
- ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System): ATLAS is a University of Hawaii-funded NASA early-warning asteroid survey; it is a functional peer in the asteroid discovery and impact-warning space that B612's ADAM platform also targets.
- Long Now Foundation: Long Now Foundation is a long-horizon philanthropy/culture nonprofit whose Strategic Advisor Stewart Brand also advises B612; the two share overlapping philanthropist communities, advisory DNA, and long-term thinking framing.
Broad incumbents
- ESA Planetary Defence Office: ESA's Planetary Defence Office coordinates European NEO monitoring and deflection missions; it operates in B612's mission space at vastly larger scale as a public-sector incumbent across both observation and deflection.
- Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at JPL: CNEOS at NASA's JPL is the U.S. government computing center for high-precision orbit computation and impact-probability assessment; it directly overlaps with ADAM::Ephemeris and the Impact Probability Tool but as a much larger, publicly funded incumbent.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
B612 Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceB612 Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
B612 Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles27 records
B612 Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
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B612 Foundation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about B612 Foundation
What does B612 Foundation do?
B612 Foundation develops and operates the ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping) Platform, an open-source cloud-based astrodynamics platform that enables discovery, mapping, and analysis of asteroids using proprietary algorithms like THOR. The foundation operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, funding planetary defense research through individual donations, corporate grants, and programs such as the Asteroid Institute and the Schweickart Prize.
Is B612 Foundation a public or private company?
B612 Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was B612 Foundation founded?
B612 Foundation was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is B612 Foundation based?
B612 Foundation is headquartered in Mill Valley, United States, in the North America region.
How does B612 Foundation make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are planned Giving and Bequests, sponsor an ADAM Discovery, stock and Appreciated Asset Donations and corporate Grants and Matching Programs.
Who are B612 Foundation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Planetary Society, Asteroid Day, Slooh and National Space Society. LeoLabs is listed as an emerging player. Others are Catalina Sky Survey, ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) and Long Now Foundation. Broad incumbents are ESA Planetary Defence Office and Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at JPL.
Does B612 Foundation have an API?
No public API is recorded for B612 Foundation.
What industry is B612 Foundation in?
B612 Foundation's product category is Planetary Defense Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAI, Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations, with a secondary code of BPAGAKAH, International Grantmaking & Development Foundations. Its NAICS code is 813211.