Andrew Detor

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DARPA's NOM4D builds a truss in orbit without astronauts

Overseeing the program's orbital demonstrations

A payload roughly one cubic meter in size rode a SpaceX rideshare rocket into orbit on March 30, 2026. Inside were composite struts, aluminum joints, a perforated reflective film and an armlike robot. Over the following months the robot picked up those parts and built a section of a truss in open space, with no astronaut involved.

Updated 2 hours ago

Notable Quotes

"You can think of the Caltech approach as similar to Tinkertoys or K'nex construction toys: individual truss members are joined at nodes, one section at a time."

from DARPA's NOM4D builds a truss in orbit without astronauts · Updated 2 hours ago

"We went from the idea of an on-orbit demo to launching a working prototype into space in 15 months."

from DARPA's NOM4D builds a truss in orbit without astronauts · Updated 2 hours ago