Planetary Exploration 3.0: A Roadmap for Software-Defined, Radically Adaptive Space Systems

2026-04-21

AI Summary

Traditional incremental planetary exploration paradigms are ill-suited for outer solar system missions spanning more than a decade, as they lack the adaptability to evolve through repeated iterations in response to unknown environments. This work proposes a new paradigm—Planetary Exploration 3.0 (PE 3.0)—that integrates software-defined space systems, embodied artificial intelligence, and modular architecture to enable spacecraft to autonomously reconfigure their functionalities in real time based on in situ data and conduct hypothesis-driven scientific investigations. Key enabling technologies include reconfigurable hardware, multifunctional modular design, and onboard autonomous decision-making with navigation and control. The study establishes a comprehensive PE 3.0 systems engineering framework and demonstrates its feasibility and superiority through three mission concepts: an intelligent Neptune–Triton flyby, an icy ocean world explorer, and an Oort Cloud reconnaissance mission.

Technology Category

• Multiagent Systems: Multiagent Planning
• Intelligent Robots: Multi-Robot Systems
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Agentic search
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

The surface and subsurface of worlds beyond Mars remain largely unexplored. Yet these worlds hold keys to fundamental questions in planetary science - from potentially habitable subsurface oceans on icy moons to ancient records preserved in Kuiper Belt objects. NASA's success in Mars exploration was achieved through incrementalism: 22 progressively sophisticated missions over decades. This paradigm, which we call Planetary Exploration 2.0 (PE 2.0), is untenable for the outer Solar System, where cruise times of a decade or more make iterative missions infeasible. We propose Planetary Exploration 3.0 (PE 3.0): a paradigm in which unvisited worlds are explored by a single or a few missions with radically adaptive space systems. A PE 3.0 mission conducts both initial exploratory science and follow-on hypothesis-driven science based on its own in situ data returns, evolving spacecraft capabilities to work resiliently in previously unseen environments. The key enabler of PE 3.0 is software-defined space systems (SDSSs) - systems that can adapt their functions at all levels through software updates. This paper presents findings from a Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) workshop on PE 3.0, covering: (1) PE 3.0 systems engineering including science definition, architecture, design methods, and verification & validation; (2) software-defined space system technologies including reconfigurable hardware, multi-functionality, and modularity; (3) onboard intelligence including autonomous science, navigation, controls, and embodied AI; and (4) three PE 3.0 mission concepts: a Neptune/Triton smart flyby, an ocean world explorer, and an Oort cloud reconnaissance mission.

Problem

• Planetary Exploration
• Outer Solar System
• Adaptive Space Systems
• Software-Defined Systems
• Single-Mission Exploration

Innovation

• Software-Defined Space Systems
• Radically Adaptive Spacecraft
• Autonomous Science
• Reconfigurable Hardware
• Embodied AI