EraDrive, a promising Stanford University spinoff, has secured a $1 million contract from NASA to develop cutting-edge AI technology for space applications, marking a significant milestone for the young company in the competitive space tech sector.
Founded earlier this year in Palo Alto, California, EraDrive was established by Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB) director Simone D'Amico, along with Justin Kruger, a SLAB postdoctoral fellow, and Sumant Sharma, a SLAB alum and former autonomy lead at urban air mobility startup Wisk, a Boeing subsidiary.
The company specializes in developing self-driving technology for spacecraft, with the goal of enhancing satellite performance and autonomy. "EraDrive develops self-driving technology for spacecraft with the goal to endow every spacecraft with autonomy capabilities from rendezvous and proximity operation, on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing, all the way to space-situational awareness, space-traffic monitoring and management," explained D'Amico. "Basically, EraDrive makes not only every spacecraft fly autonomously but makes them aware of their surroundings."
Under the sole-source NASA contract, EraDrive will develop software and services to track satellites and orbital debris using star trackers on NASA's Starling spacecraft swarm. The technology builds on D'Amico's work at Stanford, where he serves as an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and SLAB founding director.
EraDrive's technology promises to reduce collision risks and enhance national security by revealing the orbits of potentially threatening spacecraft. The autonomous vision-based navigation also frees satellites from reliance on GPS or ground stations for position, navigation, and timing information.
The real promise, according to D'Amico, lies in the proliferation of EraDrive technology to make satellites "aware of their surroundings and give them the ability to navigate and control their motion relative to other space assets." This capability will enable in-space servicing, space-based solar power generation, and precision remote sensing - critical advancements for the 30,000 to 50,000 satellites expected to be in orbit by 2030.
This NASA contract represents a significant vote of confidence in university-based AI research being commercialized, highlighting the continued strong investment interest in AI startups focused on space applications despite the maturing market.