Testing Robotic Satellite Servicing Capabilities

  • Released Wednesday, July 11, 2018
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This six-legged, 10 by 16-foot robot mimics how satellites move in space. NASA uses the hexapod robot to conduct precise tests of robotic satellite servicing operations.

Sitting on top of the robot is a partial mockup of a satellite. Mounted to a panel close by, representing the payload deck of a robotic servicing spacecraft, is an advanced robotic arm. Together, these robots practice a calculated dance. As the hexapod moves, the robotic arm reaches out to grasp the mock satellite. This complex maneuver has never been attempted in space with a satellite that wasn’t designed to be approached. Lab demonstrations and testing will help NASA engineers perfect technologies for an autonomous (no humans involved) rendezvous in orbit.

NASA is working to prove the combination of technologies necessary to robotically refuel a satellite in orbit that was not designed to be serviced. The same technologies developed for the Restore-L project will advance in-orbit repair, upgrade and assembly capabilities.

The ground demonstrations take place in the Robotic Operations Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The hexapod robot was custom built for NASA by a New Hampshire-based company called Mikrolar.

Download high resolution photos of the hexapod: https://www.flickr.com/gp/gsfc/9ccG21

Credit: NASA Goddard/Rebecca Roth

Credit: NASA Goddard/Rebecca Roth

This time-lapse of lights out testing shows how a robotic arm attached to a servicer satellite would approach and grasp a client satellite.

Music Credit: Killertracks / Technological Disorder GTP053

This time-lapse of lights out testing shows the hexapod robot's six degrees of freedom. The hexapod can move forward and backward (surge), up and down (heave) and left and right (sway). The wide range of movement can mimic the way a satellite moves in space.

Music Credit: Killertracks / Machine Learning ATMOS402-18

Credit: NASA Goddard/Rebecca Roth

Credit: NASA Goddard/Rebecca Roth

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Credits

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Wednesday, July 11, 2018.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:46 PM EDT.