Accelerating Space Robot Operating System for a Sustainable Lunar Future

Earlier space robotics missions relied on bespoke development of hardware and software, which is expensive and does not lend itself to software interoperability or sustained collaborative operations. Many terrestrial robots are built on the Robot Operating System (ROS). ROS provides a common software infrastructure that enables interoperability between different robot hardware components and software systems from different vendors. By providing common infrastructure and tools, robots can be built more quickly and reuse software components. Work has already begun to bring these ROS concepts to space, in an international open source effort called Space ROS. Space ROS will be a key factor in building a sustainable lunar surface ecosystem that efficiently re-uses assets for rapid evolution of missions. Once Space ROS has flight heritage and has been established as certifiable software, it will be possible to apply it to any number of applications for Moon to Mars missions, and beyond. Space ROS will enable both more robots to be built for less money, but also the ability for sustained collaborative operations in space environments. The goal of this phase is to boost Space ROS’s momentum in the community, demonstrate capabilities by pairing with cFS for control, and provide a space-focused test harness. We will provide a showcase for existing functionality, integrate third party software, and test Space ROS in a hybrid autonomy environment designed for space robot operators. A key outcome of this Phase 1 will be accelerating the adoption of Space ROS by at least 1 year. Our software platform, MoveIt Pro, is the primary way to monetize our work on Space ROS, and Space ROS is key to elevating the TRL and utility of MoveIt Pro for space. MoveIt Pro serves automation and robotic needs in the emerging areas of CLD, ISAM/SAML, ADR, lunar and planetary missions. The space robotics market is estimated to have a total addressable market (TAM) of $58B by 2030.