Rendezvous Robotics
"Build Beyond the Rocket"
Golden, Colorado startup commercializing MIT-invented TESSERAE tiles that autonomously self-assemble in orbit via electromagnets into large spacecraft.
Rendezvous Robotics, Inc. is a space infrastructure startup headquartered in Golden, Colorado that builds modular spacecraft tiles designed to assemble themselves autonomously in orbit. Its patented TESSERAE technology was invented at MIT by Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, incubated at the nonprofit Aurelia Institute that she founded, and spun out as Rendezvous, co-founded by Ekblaw (co-founder and inventor) with Phil Frank (co-founder and CEO) and Joe Landon (co-founder and President). The company emerged from stealth on September 10, 2025, announcing a $3 million pre-seed round led by Aurelia Foundry and 8090 Industries with participation from ATX Venture Partners, Mana Ventures and angel investors. Its leadership team brings experience from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin and Nokia, and in November 2025 it appointed Sean Rogers as Chief Financial Officer.
The approach replaces fairing-limited, folded spacecraft with flat-packed tiles that stack inside a rocket and assemble after release. According to the company, the tiles self-assemble using electromagnetic control, with no astronauts, no propulsion and no robotic arm; it describes the system as autonomous swarm robotics using electromagnetic formation flying, in which modules dock, correct mistakes and can be reconfigured or extended later. Because antenna gain, power generation and heat rejection scale with area, Rendezvous targets very large structures: apertures for defense ISR, protected communications and missile tracking; kilometer-scale direct-to-device antennas; and megawatt-class power and thermal systems for orbital computing.
TESSERAE has a multi-year flight history. Tiles flew on a Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital flight in 2019, on a SpaceX commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2020 and again aboard the ISS in 2022, where a small set of tiles demonstrated autonomous bonding in microgravity. The fifth-generation (Gen-5) system completed NASA's qualification campaign in Houston ahead of a third ISS demonstration, the largest to date: 32 tiles carrying 192 cameras and 384 electropermanent magnets, a new flat-pack dispenser and a full three-dimensional sphere assembly sequence inside a dedicated experiment enclosure. Gen-5 replaces earlier MEMS proximity sensors and magnetometers with cameras that visually confirm bond states between tiles. The 21 cm hexagon and 19 cm pentagon tiles were 3D-printed by Formlabs and assembled at the Autodesk Technology Center in Boston under Aurelia's research residency. The company's homepage separately refers to flying 36 fifth-generation tiles aboard the ISS in 2026.
Beyond the ISS, Rendezvous is developing a larger tile system at its Golden headquarters for what it calls the first in-space, free-flight autonomous assembly mission outside the station, planned for late 2026. In October 2025 Rendezvous and Starcloud, developer of the Starcloud-1 orbital datacenter platform, signed a memorandum of understanding to assess Rendezvous' self-assembling solar arrays and thermal radiators for gigawatt-scale orbital power and data infrastructure, with potential joint flight demonstrations. The engineering team spans GNC and autonomy, structures and mechanisms, robotics and electrical, software, and manufacturing and test.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
TESSERAE Gen-5 Tile System
Third ISS self-assembly demo: 32 tiles (21 cm hexagons, 19 cm pentagons) with 192 cameras, 384 electropermanent magnets and a flat-pack dispenser; NASA-qualified.
Self-assembling solar arrays and thermal radiators
Tile-based arrays and radiators being assessed with Starcloud under an Oct 2025 MOU for gigawatt-scale orbital power and datacenter infrastructure.
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Contact Rendezvous Robotics
WEBSITE
https://www.rdvrobotics.comHEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
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Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
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Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
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Funding Stage
Early-Stage VC
Funding Total
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