AstroForge Introduces Autonomy-1: The First Autonomous Space Mission, Powered by Solo

AstroForge, unlocking the resources of the Solar System, led by Matt Gialich, has introduced Autonomy-1: the first autonomous space mission, powered by solo. 

Spacecraft still rely heavily on ground teams to analyze telemetry, diagnose anomalies, make decisions, and send commands. In deep-space missions, these teams also depend on scarce and expensive ground infrastructure, while communication delays increase with distance from Earth.

AstroForge says mission operations account for nearly one-third of its overall mission costs, creating a model that becomes difficult to scale across large spacecraft fleets.

The company is addressing this through Solo, a spacecraft intelligence model designed to autonomously coordinate onboard functions. Built on top of AstroForge’s deterministic, physics-based flight software, Solo enables spacecraft to make real-time decisions during flight.

The upcoming DeepSpace-2 mission will test Solo in “shadow mode,” processing real spacecraft data without executing its decisions. The subsequent Autonomy-1 mission is planned as the first deployment in which Solo takes control, with the spacecraft designed to complete its mission after separation without commands from the ground.

Building Solo.

Spacecraft autonomy has existed for decades, from NASA’s Remote Agent on Deep Space 1 to OSIRIS-REx’s autonomous sample collection. However, autonomy has typically been limited to specific functions, with ground teams still responsible for mission-level decisions and anomaly response.

Solo is designed as an intelligence layer above AstroForge’s existing physics-based flight software. It processes onboard spacecraft data, identifies anomalies, and determines the next action without requiring ground commands.

Operating directly onboard also gives Solo access to far more data than can be transmitted to Earth, enabling decisions despite deep-space communication delays and bandwidth constraints.

AstroForge’s team combines expertise in autonomous navigation, mathematics, physics, and spacecraft operations, supported by extensive in-house testing across thermal, radio, propulsion, and hardware-in-the-loop systems.

Proving It in Space: Autonomy-1.

Autonomy-1 will be Solo’s first full-scale flight demonstration. After separating from its launch vehicle, the spacecraft is designed to operate without receiving a single command from Earth.

Telemetry and science data will still be transmitted to the ground, but communication will be one-way. Solo will make onboard decisions while the ground team observes the spacecraft’s behavior and decisions.

The mission will also carry COMPASS, a NASA Goddard heliophysics payload, requiring Solo to autonomously manage the spacecraft functions supporting a real scientific payload.

The technology is being developed for asteroid mining, but the underlying challenge extends across deep-space missions: limited communications, costly ground infrastructure, and specialized operations teams. As spacecraft move farther from Earth and their numbers increase, onboard intelligence could become increasingly important to scalable space operations.

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