The growing need for autonomous on-orbit services such as inspection, maintenance, and situational awareness calls for intelligent spacecraft capable of complex maneuvers around large orbital targets. Traditional control systems often fall short in adaptability, especially under model uncertainties, multi-spacecraft configurations, or dynamically evolving mission contexts. This paper introduces RL-AVIST, a Reinforcement Learning framework for Autonomous Visual Inspection of Space Targets. Leveraging the Space Robotics Bench (SRB), we simulate high-fidelity 6-DOF spacecraft dynamics and train agents using DreamerV3, a state-of-the-art model-based RL algorithm, with PPO and TD3 as model-free baselines. Our investigation focuses on 3D proximity maneuvering tasks around targets such as the Lunar Gateway and other space assets. We evaluate task performance under two complementary regimes: generalized agents trained on randomized velocity vectors, and specialized agents trained to follow fixed trajectories emulating known inspection orbits. Furthermore, we assess the robustness and generalization of policies across multiple spacecraft morphologies and mission domains. Results demonstrate that model-based RL offers promising capabilities in trajectory fidelity, and sample efficiency, paving the way for scalable, retrainable control solutions for future space operations

Despite our intrinsic distrust of AI in space taught to us by movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey ("I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave"), it offers large advantages to both manned and unmanned missions. To that end, NASA is developing a system that will allow astronauts to perform maneuvers, conduct experiments and more using a natural-language ChatGPT-like interface, The Guardian reported. "The idea is to get to a point where we have conversational interactions with space vehicles and they [are] also talking back to us on alerts, interesting findings they see in the solar system and beyond," said Dr. Larissa Suzuki, speaking at an IEEE meeting on next-gen space communication. NASA aims to deploy the system on its Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon and provide support for NASA's Artemis mission. It would use a natural language interface that allows astronauts to seek advice on experiments or conduct maneuvers without diving into complex manuals. On a dedicated page soliciting small business support for Lunar Gateway, NASA wrote that it would require AI and machine learning technologies to manage various systems when it's unoccupied as well.

NASA's tiny CAPSTONE spacecraft has run into trouble on its way to the moon and is currently tumbling out of control. The US space agency's $30 million probe, which is around the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds, has also been experiencing temperature issues and had problems generating power from its solar panels. Toward the end of a major engine burn last Thursday (September 9), CAPSTONE experienced an anomaly that put the probe in a protective'safe mode', mission team members said. In an update issued this week, Advanced Space – the company that is managing the project for NASA – described it as a'dynamic operational situation'. It is not the first time CAPSTONE has hit a snag.

NASA is finally set to launch its'CAPSTONE' spacecraft mission on Tuesday morning, marking an important early stage in its Artemis programme. The spacecraft, which is about the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds, will blast off from Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand at 5:55 EDT (10:55 BST). Over six months, it will test the stability of a halo-shaped orbit around the moon before this orbit is used by Lunar Gateway, NASA's planned lunar outpost. Lunar Gateway will serve as a'staging area' for landing humans on the moon for the first time in 50 years and potentially as a jumping-off point for missions to Mars. The public can watch today's CAPSTONE launch from New Zealand on NASA Live.

NASA is set to launch its'CAPSTONE' spacecraft mission later this month to orbit around the moon, in preparation for a new lunar space station. The craft, which is around the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds, will blast off from the Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand some time between June 13-22. It will test the stability of a halo-shaped orbit around the moon before this is used by Lunar Gateway, NASA's planned lunar outpost. Lunar Gateway will one day serve as a'staging area' for landing humans on the moon and potentially as a jumping point for missions to Mars. Pictured is an artist's impression of CAPSTONE in orbit around the moon with the Earth in the background.

China has confirmed it's joining forces with Russia to build a research station on the moon by 2035, which will rival NASA's Lunar Gateway. Confirmation of plans to build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) came on Friday from officials at China National Space Administration (CNSA), the country's national space agency. Russia and China aim to complete basic infrastructure construction for ILRS by 2035, Wu Yanhua, CNSA deputy director, told a briefing in Beijing. ILRS will rival NASA's Lunar Gateway, which is set to play a'vital' role in the US space agency's upcoming Artemis program. However, NASA's Lunar Gateway will only orbit the moon, while ILRS will have both an orbiter and a base on the lunar surface, as well as multiple exploration rovers.

Russia and China have committed to work together on a moon base and lunar space station, but it will not be ready to house astronauts until at least 2036, the two countries said. Known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), it will consist of a surface moon base and station in lunar orbit, with construction expected to start in 2026. The two nations have asked other international agencies to join them in the project, which will also include rovers and'hopping robots' to aid eventual inhabitants. NASA is working with the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as Canada and Japan on the Lunar Gateway, a modular crewed space station designed to operate in orbit around the moon and help astronauts reach the lunar surface from 2024. While Russia and China are working together on the moon, the two will compete in low Earth orbit, with both planning their own space station to rival the International Space Station (ISS).

The Lunar Gateway, NASA's outpost that will orbit the moon as part of its upcoming Artemis program, will be equipped with external robotics from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA announced today. The culmination of an earlier partnership around Artemis, NASA's first major program to bring astronauts to the moon in half a century, CSA plans to build a "next-generation" robotic arm, the aptly named Canadarm3. That device will be able to reach many parts of the Gateway's exterior, giving astronauts an easy way to make repairs. Additionally, NASA says CSA will create robotic interfaces for Gateway modules, which will help with the installation of the outpost's first two scientific instruments. CSA aims to deliver the Candarm3 to the Gateway in 2026 via a commercial logistics supply flight.

NASA has awarded a $187 million contract to Northrop Grumman to build a crew module that astronauts will stay in before landing on the Moon. Known as the habitation and logistics outpost (HALO), it will be the size of a small flat and form part of the Lunar Gateway, a small space station that will orbit the Moon. The Gateway is part of the Artemis mission - that will see the first woman and next man return to the Moon by 2024 and regular return trips over the next decade. HALO and the Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), will launch in 2023, a year ahead of the first mission to land humans on the Moon since 1972. NASA says the Gateway will help them build a sustainable presence at the Moon as it expands its efforts to land astronauts on the surface and even build a base.

NASA's ambitious plans to build a base on the surface of the moon will likely be delayed. According to NASA's Dough Loverro, who oversees the agency's human exploration programs, several aspects of the project's technical design and multi-phase rollout need to be revised. One of the first changes will affect NASA's touted Lunar Gateway, a space station planned to orbit the moon and to be used as a staging point for the subsequent construction of a base on the moon's surface. NASA's ambitious plans for a lunar base will be delayed by at least a year after unexpected technical complications with the Lunar Gateway, a space station planned to orbit the moon and used as a staging area for construction materials NASA had targeted a completion window for the Lunar Gateway in 2024, and promised construction on the lunar base would begin no later than 2025, but according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Lunar Gateway is being reworked. NASA says it will still have a space station in orbit around the moon in 2024, but it won't initially be as capable as originally planned, likely delaying the completion date for the lunar base.