ASTRA robot builds a structure in orbit with no human at the controls

How did the ASTRA robot get to orbit?

The team first developed the mission and tested the hardware on the ground. The equipment was then handed to Momentus and integrated into its Vigoride 7 space transport vehicle. It launched on 30 March on SpaceX's Transporter-16 rideshare mission, carrying pre-prepared structure parts, a robotic arm and extra components.

Engineers were in contact with the robot for only about 15 minutes a day. They used that time to send commands and check progress while it grabbed parts and put them in place. Time ran short, so not every planned piece of the antenna was finished. The researchers still count the mission a success, because it proved that autonomous construction in space works.

Why build things in space at all?

Anything launched on a rocket has to fit inside the fairing, the shell that protects the payload on the way up. Building after arrival removes that limit. Pellegrino says the approach could help astronomy, communications and giant solar arrays for space-based solar power. It also fits the growing demand for huge satellites, communication networks and AI computing projects in orbit.

The test belongs to DARPA's NOM4D programme, which develops ways to make materials and structures in orbit and on the Moon while using less mass. Its long-term aim is structures hundreds of metres or even kilometres across. Programme manager Andrew Detor says the goal is large space structures built efficiently and at scale.

Next, the researchers want robots to assemble larger telescope mirrors and more complex radio telescope structures. NOM4D also backs a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign project on strengthening carbon-fibre tubes in orbit, planned for the International Space Station.