Space Minds How physics AI is transforming the future of space engineering
Dec 23, 2025
Juan Alonso, CTO and co-founder of Luminary Cloud and professor at Stanford, delves into the evolution of aerospace engineering through physics AI. He explains how these advancements revolutionize design by enabling rapid simulations of complex aerodynamic behavior. Alonso discusses the balancing act between simulation and physical testing, emphasizing the value of collaboration in Silicon Valley. He predicts a major transformative impact from data-driven physics AI in the next five to ten years, reshaping engineering workflows across the aerospace sector.
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Physics AI Shrinks CFD Timeframes
- Luminary uses physics AI to turn large simulation datasets into models that are as accurate but far faster than traditional CFD.
- Juan Alonso says this enables designers to query performance in seconds instead of waiting 10–12 hours.
Data + ML Enables Interactive Engineering
- The explosion of data and new ML methods lets engineers query physical systems interactively and iterate designs rapidly.
- Alonso highlights being able to get answers in a second or two instead of many hours as transformative.
Combine Simulation With Experimental Data
- No simulation is perfect, so combining simulation and experimental data increases credibility and reduces uncertainty.
- Alonso argues physics AI lets teams assimilate both sources into a single, more trustworthy model.