There's no use launching a spacecraft to explore a far-off location if you can't maintain reliable communication with it. NASA's missions have traditionally relied on complicated human-controlled radio systems, but the agency is now investigating artificial intelligence to control its radios.

As collection of space data increases, NASA is exploring the infusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into space communications networks to meet demand and increase efficiency. Software-defined radios like cognitive radio use AI to employ underutilised portions of the electromagnetic spectrum without human intervention. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permits a cognitive radio to use the frequency while unused by its primary user until the user becomes active again. "Modern space communications systems use complex software to support science and exploration missions. By applying AI and machine learning, satellites control these systems seamlessly, making real-time decisions without awaiting instruction," Janette C. Briones, Principal Investigator at NASA's Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, Ohio, said in a statement on Saturday.