AstroForge plans autonomous spacecraft controlled by in-house AI

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Published Tuesday, September 22, 2026 · 12:09 PM EDT

AstroForge plans to fly a spacecraft under its in-house transformer-based control system in 2027 on Stoke Space's first rocket launch. The NASA-backed mission is expected to collect data about the sun, while an earlier vehicle scheduled for late 2026 will carry the system in shadow mode for testing. Called Solo, the stack combines traditional controls, subsystem models and an intelligence layer trained on readings from roughly 2,500 spacecraft sensors. AstroForge is considering operating the 2027 vehicle without a radio, but its two previous prototype spacecraft suffered anomalies that prevented most mission objectives.

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