NASA’s Starling six-month mission will use a team of four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to test technologies that let spacecraft operate in a synchronized manner without resources from the ground. The technologies will advance capabilities in swarm maneuver planning and execution, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordination between spacecraft.  

NASA’s Starling six-month mission will use a team of four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to test technologies that let spacecraft operate in a synchronized manner without resources from the ground. The technologies will advance capabilities in swarm maneuver planning and execution, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordination between spacecraft.  

NASA’s Starling six-month mission will use a team of four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to test technologies that let spacecraft operate in a synchronized manner without resources from the ground. The technologies will advance capabilities in swarm maneuver planning and execution, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordination between spacecraft.  

NASA’s Starling six-month mission will use a team of four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to test technologies that let spacecraft operate in a synchronized manner without resources from the ground. The technologies will advance capabilities in swarm maneuver planning and execution, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordination between spacecraft.   NASA/Conceptual Image Lab/Ross Walter

A model of the Starling, autonomous swarm navigation on four CubeSats in low-Earth orbit, is seen in the NASA Headquarters lobby during a 2-day event where NASA outlined how the agency is executing President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy and accelerating preparations for America’s return to the surface of the Moon by 2028, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. During the event NASA leadership provided updates on mission priorities, including sending the first astronauts to the lunar surface in more than 50 years, establishing the initial elements of a permanent lunar base, getting America underway in space on nuclear propulsion, and other objectives. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

jsc2025e076914 (September 25, 2025) -- This is the ENPULSION Micro Starling thruster, which contains four ion emitters to create thrust. While this thruster is not tested on station, the MICATOS investigation observes how molten indium behaves in microgravity, which could improve future thrusters of this type and refine methods for in-space soldering. Image courtesy of Enpulsion.