ASIMOV (Autonomous System for In-orbit Mapping and Observation of non-cooperative Vehicles) is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) programme, coordinated by AIKO together with Politecnico di Milano, T4i, and Tiny Bull Studio, to build an autonomous “space autopilot” that can approach and map non-cooperative targets in low Earth orbit — faulty satellites and orbital debris — without ground intervention.
- Guidance, Navigation and Control based on AI and reinforcement learning, letting the spacecraft plan and adapt its own approach trajectory.
- Validated on Politecnico di Milano’s ARGOS facility, where robots and sensors reproduce orbital conditions in real time.
- Builds on the same simulation and RL-training approach behind Buzz, extended here to non-cooperative rendezvous and in-orbit inspection.
Learn more on AIKO’s site and the ASI project page.