AMD has started sampling the Versal AI Core XQRVC1902 adaptive SoC with early access customers in an enhanced space-grade package built for missions lasting up to 15 years. The package is an organic lidless design, and AMD is testing the device to MIL-PRF-38535 Class Y, which it describes as the highest level of quality and reliability the standard offers for spaceflight components. Class Y flight-qualified units are expected in the second half of 2027.
Substrate Engineering and In-Orbit Compute Density
The package pairs an enhanced organic substrate and conservative design rules with space-grade chip capacitors that have established flight heritage, the combination AMD is counting on to hold up under the thermal and mechanical stress of geosynchronous Earth orbit, cislunar orbit, heliocentric orbit, and deep space. Removing the lid gives the exposed die a more direct heat path. The new package is pin-compatible with existing Versal AI Core VC1902 commercial, defense-grade, and space-grade devices in the 2,197-ball BGA, so a board designed for the current part carries over.
The AMD Versal AI Core XQRVC1902 adaptive SoC is designed to support space missions lasting up to 15 years. AMD is testing the device to the U.S. military specification MIL-PRF-38535 Class Y qualification. (Credit: AMD)
“Space missions increasingly require both advanced onboard processing and exceptional long-term reliability,” said Ken O’Neill, Aerospace and Defense lead systems architect at AMD. “The availability of XQR Versal AI Core adaptive SoC samples in AMD advanced space-grade packaging marks an important milestone toward Class Y qualification and enables customers to construct engineering models using this technology for missions demanding absolute reliability.”
AMD pitches the part on compute density for onboard payload processing: vector-based algorithm acceleration, programmable logic, on-chip SRAM, and multi-gigabit transceivers in one device, aimed at human-rated, long-duration, and high-value missions. The sampling milestone is the one AMD laid out when it expanded the space-grade portfolio in November 2025, which promised samples in 2026 and flight-qualified units in 2027.
Sampling Status and Flight Qualification Schedule
Samples of the XQRVC1902 in the enhanced lidless package are with early access customers now, with electrical, thermal, and pinout details in AMD datasheet DS946. Flight-qualified production units are a separate step: AMD expects to complete Class Y qualification and ship flight units in the second half of 2027, so engineering models built on today’s samples will be waiting on that sign-off before they fly.
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