A U.S. defense agency says it has demonstrated a new way to build structures in space—and the team says it relied on careful engineering, not advanced artificial intelligence or astronauts.
The test, described as a first, could point toward a different approach to expanding the United States’ presence beyond Earth’s orbit. It was carried out under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s NOM4D program, now in its fourth year, with engineers from the California Institute of Technology.
Caltech’s Autonomous In-Space Tensioned Reflector Assembly system used a robotic arm to join structural tubes and connectors stored in dispensers, forming repeating sections of a truss. The device launched with two sections already assembled and built a third after reaching orbit.
Images from cameras aboard the system showed more composite-fiber tubes and reflective material with a netlike appearance. The team said the demonstration did not use advanced AI models or require astronauts. The result, in its words, came from “good old-fashioned rigorous engineering.”
“This is the first time that a structure has been autonomously constructed in space,” said Sergio Pellegrino, a senior research scientist at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He said developing such a complex payload on a short schedule had been a major undertaking for the small team.
NOM4D program manager Andrew Detor said the approach could eventually be scaled to build much larger structures. Current methods typically involve assembling modules on Earth and launching them piece by piece. The International Space Station, for example, required more than 40 launches to reach its roughly 100-meter size.
NOM4D stands for Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design. The program aims to develop large structures in space that are precise and lightweight, while able to withstand the movement, temperature changes, eclipses and potential damage found in that environment.
Launched in 2022, the program is intended to support manufacturing and assembly in orbit, eventually using raw materials transported from Earth. The latest test was the project’s third phase, following initial design work and a demonstration conducted in Earth-based conditions.
