The collaboration is exploratory. The two companies said in a joint statement that they will assess use cases at the intersection of orbital AI computing and return-to-Earth manufacturing, with no confirmed mission timeline or contract disclosed. If the concept advances, Sophia Space’s TILE compute platform would process manufacturing and sensor data directly in orbit, while Outpost’s Carryall spacecraft would return hardware to engineers on the ground.
Sophia Space emerged from research at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Its co-founder and chairman, Dr. Leon Alkalai, is a retired JPL Technical Fellow who spent 32 years at the laboratory and received two NASA Distinguished Individual Achievement medals for his roles in the GRAIL Moon mission and the InSight Mars lander. The company raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding in May 2025 and is headquartered on South Chester Avenue in Pasadena.
Outpost was founded in 2021 by Jason Dunn, who previously co-founded Made In Space, the company that developed and operated the first 3D printer aboard the International Space Station in 2014. Made In Space was later acquired and went public as Redwire, now traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Outpost has received $37 million in government and civil awards, including a $33.2 million contract from the Air Force to develop its Carryall Earth-return vehicle, which the company says can carry up to 10 tons of cargo back from orbit.
“At some point, space manufacturing has to stop behaving like a science project and start behaving like an industry,” Rob DeMillo, CEO of Sophia Space, said in the company’s statement. “That means intelligence running on orbit and the ability to learn fast. When you can compute in space and return hardware quickly, you turn years-long development cycles into something that actually scales.”
The Sophia Space TILE platform uses solid-state, self-sustaining compute modules with integrated solar power and passive space cooling, according to the company. The technology, which has a patent pending through Caltech, is designed to process data where it is collected in orbit rather than transmitting it to Earth, reducing latency and conserving bandwidth.
“With Sophia Space aboard our Carryall mission, we’re helping accelerate the maturation of a new space sector: on-orbit compute,” Dunn said in the statement. “Sophia’s system represents a critical enabling layer for the in-space economy. Our return capability closes the loop between testing and production, enabling faster innovation and greater reliability.”
DeMillo said access to Outpost’s Earth-return capability could allow Sophia Space to test computing hardware in true orbital conditions — including microgravity, thermal extremes and radiation — and retrieve it for analysis, shortening design-build-fly cycles.
“Historically, space compute either stays on orbit forever or burns up on reentry,” DeMillo said. “That’s a dead end for iteration. Carryall would give us something the industry has been missing: the ability to fly early hardware, operate it in real orbital conditions, and get it back into engineers’ hands quickly.”
The companies said the partnership includes exploring on-orbit processing of manufacturing sensor and quality-assurance data, AI-enabled analytics for operational insights, assessment of orbital computing advantages such as reduced latency and thermal benefits, and concept-level evaluation of integrating Sophia Space’s TILE with Outpost’s Carryall platform.
Outpost’s first Ferryall mission is planned for early 2026, according to the company’s prior announcements, with Carryall flights potentially beginning as early as 2027.
“Outpost Carryall isn’t just a spacecraft,” DeMillo said. “It’s an iteration engine.”
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