Air Force Seeks Flight-Ready AI for Autonomous Cislunar Spacecraft
The Air Force is canvassing industry for off-the-shelf artificial intelligence and machine learning software built for autonomous space vehicles operating beyond near-Earth orbit. A request for information published Monday asks companies to submit flight-ready concepts for autonomous operations in the cislunar domain, with replies due December 4.
The service says it is pursuing an overarching policy objective to develop a sustained architecture beyond Earth orbit, and the responses it collects should drive future requirements. The RFI notes that cislunar systems deal with a much larger domain volume than near-Earth systems, which can create communications delays and problems for ground-based command and control.
According to the document, the Air Force wants software that can help cislunar space vehicles perform autonomous maneuvers such as station-keeping, trajectory optimization, and hazard avoidance of objects moving outside planetary orbit. The RFI warns that communication latencies resulting from the increase in volume may mean traditional, ground-based command and control and mission planning systems are no longer scalable on operationally relevant timelines.
The service is asking for industry expertise in the form of white papers organized around five topics: autonomous mission planning, predictive analytics, trajectory planning, computer vision, and other potential technical areas. It wants fully developed autonomy software that would require no development and little training within 90 days of an Authority to Proceed order, and that would be fully qualified within a year and a half. The RFI also asks industry to address potential hardware, compute, and data requirements for their algorithms, including any anticipated data rights considerations.
The RFI follows comments from Tom Ainsworth, principal deputy assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration, who said in March that the Space Force would begin standing up leadership positions to acquire technologies targeting the cislunar mission area. Ainsworth was performing the duties of Air Force assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration at the time.
The information gathered from industry may lead to Air Force investment in future studies around the concept. The RFI stresses, however, that the service wants to see industry's ability to deliver readily available software quickly. The government is not interested in investing in a cislunar research and development program, the document states, using the Trump administration's preferred term for AI.
Industry responses are due December 4, and the Air Force says the replies should shape future requirements for the cislunar mission area.