signalTechCrunch AI2026-09-23
AstroForge is putting AI in command of its next spacecraft
AstroForge, funded with $56 million, is developing Solo, an in-house transformer-based autonomous control stack for its spacecraft, to overcome the high cost of ground networks and avoid failures like its Odin mission. The company plans its first fully autonomous flight in 2027 on a Stoke Space rocket, with a shadow-mode test on DeepSpace-2 in 2026, and intends to fly without Earth radios on the autonomy mission.
- for who
- Space industry engineers and startups seeking cost-effective spacecraft autonomy
- what changes
- Spacecraft can operate independently without constant Earth communication, reducing reliance on expensive ground networks
- to do
- Track DeepSpace-2's shadow mode testing and AstroForge's Autonomy-1 mission as a model for AI-driven space operations
key points
- AstroForge raised $56M and launched two prototypes, both suffered anomalies
- Solo, a transformer model, trained on 2,500 sensors, powers autonomous control
- First autonomous flight in 2027 on Stoke Space rocket, NASA-backed
#astroforge#autonomous spacecraft#transformer model
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