IPEX, the Intelligent Payload Experiment

Classified its own images on board and picked out the regions worth sending down.

L3 Launched: confirmed by a party with no stake, or by public data. Rests on c3.
R1 Ran: own statement. Rests on c1, c2.

Operator	NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with California Polytechnic State University
Developer	NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Host	IPEX, a CubeSat
Where	Earth orbit
Class	perception
Hardware	not stated in what was read
Model or software	Random decision forests learned on the ground, and visual salience software
Launched	6 Dec 2013
Ran	from December 2013; operations completed in 2015
Ended	2015
Catalogue	CP8 (IPEX), number 39471; matched by name, the reviewer's judgement

What was said, and by whom

“IPEX used machine-learned random decision forests to classify images onboard (to downlink classification maps) and computer vision visual salience software to extract interesting regions for downlink in acquired imagery.”

JPL Artificial Intelligence Group: the developer. IPEX (Intelligent Payload Experiment), JPL Artificial Intelligence Group. Published undated (no date on the page). Read 4 Oct 2026, in part: four sentences of 5,700 characters.
“IPEX launched in December 2013 for a six month mission, achieved its success criteria in three months, and flew for 14 months completing operations in 2015.”

JPL Artificial Intelligence Group: the developer. IPEX (Intelligent Payload Experiment), JPL Artificial Intelligence Group. Published undated (no date on the page). Read 4 Oct 2026, in part: four sentences of 5,700 characters.
OBJECT_NAME: CP8 (IPEX); LAUNCH_DATE: 2013-12-06

CelesTrak satellite catalogue: a public catalogue. Satellite catalogue record 39471 (CP8 (IPEX)), CelesTrak. Published undated (a live catalogue record; dated by when it was read). Read 4 Oct 2026, in full.

Notes

The classifier was learned on the ground and run in orbit. The mission team's 2015 paper was opened but not read far enough to quote, so the run rests on the project page.

Changed

Added on 4 October 2026, in the second round of reading.

Cite or share

IPEX, the Intelligent Payload Experiment. Every AI that has run above the Kármán line, graded by evidence. Reviewed 4 Oct 2026. https://karman-si.pages.dev/r/ipex/

Address: https://karman-si.pages.dev/r/ipex/

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