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Los Angeles-based Gitai stated Tuesday that its autonomous robotic arm has nailed a tech demonstration exterior the Worldwide House Station.
Gitai CEO Sho Nakanose informed TechCrunch in an interview final yr that the corporate goals to scale back in-space labor prices by 100 occasions, in the identical means that SpaceX and different suppliers have dramatically lowered 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 Autonomous robotic techniques nonetheless have a methods to go earlier than they render human labor out of date, particularly right here on Earth; however in house, human labor is dear (and harmful), which offers a gap for a robotic various.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 sequence of duties that may all be important for constructing out constructions to dwell and work in house. These included putting in a activity 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 concentrating on on-orbit satellite tv for pc servicing for spacecraft in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit. Gitai can be creating robotic satellites able to performing duties associated to this market, comparable to rendezvous, docking, inspection and de-orbiting, they stated in a press release.
The eight-year-old startup plans to start out providing on-orbit servicing in 2026. The arm’s expertise readiness degree (TLR), a regular utilized by NASA to chart the maturity of expertise, is now at 7, the best degree, Gitai stated. The startup’s different product, an “inchworm-type” arm, can be at a TRL 7.
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