A robot built a structure in space without astronaut assistance for the first time, ScienceAlert reported.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology developed the Autonomous In-Space Tensioned Reflector Assembly, known as ASTRA. The project received funding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Sergio Pellegrino leads the ASTRA team at Caltech.
Payload integration on Vigoride 7
The system launched on March 30, 2026, from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a SpaceX Transporter-16 rideshare mission. It traveled to low Earth orbit riding on Momentus Inc.’s Vigoride 7 spacecraft, as Nature World News reported.
Momentus managed the integration and launch under a contract for the Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design program, according to a Nasdaq press release. The entire payload fit into about one cubic meter and carried 11 cameras.
Inside the payload sat a robotic arm alongside motorized dispensers. These components fed composite fiber tubes and aluminum joints to the arm. ASTRA put together these struts and connectors step by step to expand one bay of a planned reflector antenna measuring 1.4 meters in size.
The complete antenna design required 11 connected bays. Although the system did not finish the full 1.4-meter reflector antenna, developers confirmed it proved the feasibility of autonomous space construction.
Overcoming rocket size limits
Operators either send structures up in pieces for manual assembly or pack them tightly inside a rocket to unfurl upon arrival. ASTRA represents a third option designed to bypass the physical size limits imposed by rocket cargo holds. This approach could enable the creation of structures stretching hundreds of meters or kilometers across in orbit. Sergio Pellegrino explained the necessity of this shift in an announcement reported by ScienceAlert.
“Once you get to the size limit where structures cannot be prebuilt on the ground and unfolded, you have to think about how to build them in space,” Sergio Pellegrino said.
“So, this work could be useful not only for astronomy and astrophysics but also for communications and other areas, such as building very large solar arrays for space solar power,” Sergio Pellegrino said.
Andrew Detor, program manager of the NOM4D program, noted the long-term industrial requirements of an orbital economy. Large space depots, habitats, solar arrays, and radio antennas all demand massive scales. The NOM4D initiative aims to accelerate the creation of these new capabilities.
Next steps for orbital manufacturing
“Developing a payload of this complexity on such a short timeline was an enormous undertaking for our small team,” Sergio Pellegrino said. “As we wrap up the mission, we are finally able to start thinking about the new avenues of research opened by this demonstration.”
