Orca Aerospace

Orca Aerospace builds an AI spacecraft operator that runs on the vehicle's own flight computer. The company's premise is that constellations are growing faster than the people who fly them, and that every spacecraft still needs a ground operator and every decision waits for a scheduled pass over a narrow link. The system is described in three parts. An onboard AI decides what to do next, a deterministic planner turns that goal into maneuvers, and guardrails approve or deny every command before it reaches the vehicle. The ground sets the mission and Orca flies it, keeping the mission moving between passes and after the ground goes quiet, with no round trip to a console. The site describes it as understanding the mission, watching the systems and acting when the ground cannot. It is aimed at spacecraft and constellation operators who want vehicles to handle routine operations and anomalies autonomously. Prospective customers are asked to describe their platform through a briefing request form, and the company says it will report what the system can do on its own for that platform. The company is backed by Y Combinator. The vendor publishes no pricing, and access is through a briefing request.