Orbital hopping maneuvers with Astrobee on-board the International Space Station

Interest in space robotic free-flyers for orbital tasks such as fabrication, observation, and on-obit servicing has led to research with Astrobee, a cuboid free-flying spacecraft-manipulator system on-board the International Space Station (ISS). Astrobee is equipped with a three degree-of-freedom robotic arm composed of a two-revolute-joint, two-link perching arm, with a three-finger gripper end effector. Astrobatics is a campaign of experiments designed to explore the use of Astrobee’s robotic arm for orbital self-toss hopping maneuvers. This paper provides an overview of the Astrobee vehicle, followed by a description of the Astrobatics experiments in ground test facilities and on the ISS. Equations of motion for robotic self-toss maneuvers are developed. The results from the first Astrobatics experimental session are then compared against simulation, and the results from the second Astrobatics experimental session are provided, with a discussion of experimental observations and limitations, and followed by a description of future Astrobatics research.