Los Angeles-based Gitai mentioned Tuesday that its autonomous robotic arm has nailed a tech demonstration exterior the Worldwide House Station.
Gitai CEO Sho Nakanose instructed TechCrunch in an interview last year that the corporate goals to cut back in-space labor prices by 100 occasions, in the identical method that SpaceX and different suppliers have dramatically diminished launch prices. Autonomous robotic techniques nonetheless have a methods to go earlier than they render human labor out of date, particularly right here on Earth; however in area, human labor is dear (and harmful), which gives a gap for a robotic various.
The 1.5-meter autonomous robotic arm, which the startup calls S2, launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in January. It was mounted externally on Nanoracks’ Bishop Airlock earlier than finishing a collection of duties that can all be important for constructing out buildings to dwell and work in area. These included putting in a process panel, screwing and unscrewing tiny bolts, manipulating versatile materials and attaching and detaching a versatile electrical cable to a connector.
Picture Credit: Gitai
Within the nearer time period, the corporate is focusing on on-orbit satellite tv for pc servicing for spacecraft in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit. Gitai can also be growing robotic satellites able to performing duties associated to this market, akin to rendezvous, docking, inspection and de-orbiting, they mentioned in an announcement.
The eight-year-old startup plans to begin providing on-orbit servicing in 2026. The arm’s expertise readiness stage (TLR), an ordinary utilized by NASA to chart the maturity of expertise, is now at 7, the very best stage, Gitai mentioned. The startup’s different product, an “inchworm-type” arm, can also be at a TRL 7.
