Caltech robot builds a structure in orbit autonomously, a first for space construction
GregCook2011 · x · 2026-11-10
ASTRA, a robot developed by Caltech and funded by DARPA, has assembled part of a truss structure in orbit without astronauts — what researchers describe as the first autonomous construction of a structure in space. A robotic arm retrieves structural tubes and connecting joints and assembles them into framework sections. Launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in March, it has spent about six months in orbit validating the approach, showing spacecraft could eventually build large structures from small components.
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