AstroForge plans a spacecraft that takes no commands from Earth
Autonomy-1 is slated for Stoke Space's first Nova Pathfinder flight in 2027, after AstroForge tests its Solo software on DeepSpace-2.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: AstroForge on X
Why it matters
AstroForge's 2025 Odin mission exposed how much a deep-space startup depends on scarce ground communications. Autonomy-1 tests whether onboard decisions can reduce that dependence without putting the mission beyond recovery.
Matthew Gialich (@MattGialich) plans to put AstroForge's next spacecraft beyond the reach of ground commands. In a September 22nd announcement on X, AstroForge said Autonomy-1 will launch in 2027 and attempt every mission objective without a command from Earth after separating from its rocket. It is a plan for a flight, not a claim that the software has already done it.…