Recognizing that startups cannot match NASA’s extensive resources for asteroid exploration, space mining company AstroForge is pivoting to artificial intelligence to manage its next spacecraft. The venture, founded in 2022 with $56 million in venture backing, has developed an in-house, transformer-based control system named “Solo.”
The company plans to launch its first fully autonomous spacecraft in 2027 aboard a rocket from Stock Space. Supported by NASA, the mission is designed to collect scientific data about the Sun.
This initiative marks a significant departure from traditional spaceflight operations. Large-scale missions like NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, which rendezvoused with an asteroid in 2018, relied on teams of 100 flight controllers per shift. In contrast, neural network-based satellite control remains rare; the first instance of a neural network managing orbital positioning occurred only last year.
AstroForge’s move toward autonomy stems from challenges faced by its previous prototypes. Its 2025 Odin spacecraft, launched into deep space, suffered communication failures. With limited Earth-based antennas capable of reaching spacecraft hundreds of thousands of miles away, the company struggled to maintain contact. Although Odin could not be recovered, the experience highlighted the constraints of building a $200 million global ground network.
“Do I go build my own ground network… or do I try to remove it with a model?” asked CEO and co-founder Matthew Gialich.
Armand Awad, head of flight software, explained that the Solo stack combines traditional control algorithms with models trained on specific subsystems and an intelligence layer fed by approximately 2,500 sensors. The AI is designed to handle anomaly resolution, such as diagnosing power issues linked to star tracker failures and executing repairs autonomously.
The technology will first be tested in “shadow mode” aboard DeepSpace-2, launching with Intuitive Machines’ third lunar mission by the end of 2026. For the subsequent Autonomy-1 mission, Gialich stated there are currently no plans to include radios for Earth communication, forcing the spacecraft to rely entirely on its onboard AI.
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