Voyager Technologies and startup Icarus Robotics announced the signing of a contract to conduct tests of the Joyride free-flying robot aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A demonstration mission is scheduled to begin 2027 year.
About the robot Joyride
Joyride (also referred to as Joy) is a new generation autonomous robot, designed to operate inside the habitable modules of space stations:
Movement method: The robot uses a fan system to fly in microgravity, which allows it to maneuver freely in space with six degrees of freedom (6-DOF).
Manipulators: Equipped with two dexterous robotic arms with grippers for unpacking and stacking cargo.
Artificial intelligence: The system uses embodied AI (embodied AI), which learns through human action demonstrations, to perform routine tasks independently in the future.
Mission details and Voyager's role
Voyager Technologies acts as the mission manager and provides the full integration cycle:
Certification and security: Voyager will undertake safety checks for the autonomous device to operate alongside the crew and obtain clearances from NASA.
Logistics: Launch coordination, payload integration and real-time on-orbit operations planning.
The purpose of the tests: Validation of autonomous navigation, maneuverability and ability to perform logistics operations (example, cargo movement) in real conditions of the ISS.
Value for the future
This test is part of NASA's strategy to engage the private sector in low-Earth orbit activities before decommissioning the ISS in 2030 year. Icarus Robotics technologies are planned to be used not only on the ISS, but also on future commercial stations (such as Starlab) and in lunar missions for infrastructure maintenance.
Source: https://spacenews.com