A robot built the first structure assembled automatically in space.
The Caltech payload joined truss pieces and unfurled reflective mesh in orbit—without an astronaut doing the assembly.
DARPA and Caltech say an orbital payload has achieved the first automated assembly of a structure in space. A three-axis gantry robot connected composite truss members while deploying a thin reflective mesh.
WHAT HAPPENED
The NOM4D demonstration built repeated truss bays from separate struts and joints on a Momentus-hosted payload launched in March. The hardware did not rely on astronauts or elaborate autonomy; it combined straightforward robotic motion, custom joints and staged mesh deployment. The result is a proof of concept for structures too large to fit inside a rocket fairing.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
The machine is modest; the unlocked design space is not. Instead of folding every future antenna or solar array into a launch tube, engineers have now shown that some structures can arrive as pieces and build themselves where they will work.
ORIGINAL SOURCEDARPA / CaltechRead the original report
A DAILY ALLEGATION OF PROGRESS.
One good thing from the internet, every day. Nothing else.
MORE HOPESLOP
The first 1,000 native trees took root along the Guadalupe River.
The locally collected seedlings begin a five-year, 50,000-tree recovery plan.
Two Kauaʻi state parks reopened after two months of hurricane repairs.
Major lookouts and several trails are open again, though repairs and closures continue.
Virginia voters approved an equal-marriage amendment.
The result reverses a 2006 state constitutional ban; certification is still pending.