26 Orbital Robots Compared: Why Flight Heritage Matters More Than Any Spec on the Sheet
In orbit, a failure cannot be fixed by a service call, so whether a system has actually flown before matters more than its theoretical capability. See real mission history from 22 manufacturers before you commit a launch slot to the wrong one. Whether you want to buy, hire or lease, every one of the 26 space & orbital robots for sale below links straight to the manufacturer, with specifications pulled from their own site, not a reseller.
Compare the top picks
| Model | Maker | At a glance | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kurs Orbital ARCap Module | Kurs Orbital | Category: Modular autonomous rendezvous and docking module for on-orbit servicing | Sensor suite: X-Band Radar for initial approach ranging, plus laser rangefinder and machine vision for close-range docking and capture precision | Contact Kurs Orbital; seed-stage, first flight-ready unit targeted for low Earth orbit missions |
| VolcanoBot 2 | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | Type: Tethered Volcanic Fissure-Exploring Rover | Length: 26 cm (10 inches) | Not commercially available (NASA JPL research platform) |
| Northrop Grumman Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) | Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics LLC | Launch: Launched July 21, 2026 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on a Falcon 9, carrying three Mission Extension Pods | Mass: MRV approx. 3,000 kg; each Mission Extension Pod approx. 400 kg | Developed in partnership with DARPA; not sold as a standalone commercial product, servicing offered as a contracted mission |
| RAVEN and NEST | Orbit Fab | RAVEN Propellant Capacity: 150-200 kg | Docking Interface: RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface) | Not disclosed for RAVEN/NEST vehicles (RAFTI docking port priced at approximately $30,000 per unit) |
| Provisioner (APS-R Refueler) | Astroscale U.S. Inc. | Payload: Transfers up to approx. 100 kg of storable hydrazine propellant to client spacecraft; refuels itself by docking with an Orbit Fab depot via the RAFTI interface | Government contract (Space Force Other Transaction Authority agreement); not commercially priced |
Not sure which model fits your job, or want help with hire or lease terms? Email J2R with what you need done and your budget, and we will shortlist real options and help broker the deal.
All 26 space & orbital robots for sale in the catalog
| Model | Manufacturer | Country | At a glance | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrobotic Griffin-1 (Moon Base II) | Astrobotic Technology | USA | Payload: More than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab's FLIP rover | Contact manufacturer | Visit manufacturer site → |
| CubeRover | Astrobotic Technology | USA | Max Payload: ~1 kg per 10x10x10 cm unit | Max Speed: 10 cm/s | USD 4,500,000 per kg of payload (end-to-end delivery service) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| ELSA-M | Astroscale | Japan / UK | Type: Multi-Client Magnetic-Capture Debris Removal Servicer | Capture Method: Magnetic docking to a pre-installed ferromagnetic plate | Commercial in-orbit servicing contract; not publicly priced | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Astroscale ADRAS-J2 Robotic Debris Removal Spacecraft | Astroscale Japan Inc. (Astroscale Holdings Inc.) | Japan (Tokyo) | Target object: H-IIA rocket upper stage, approximately 11 m long, 4 m diameter, about 3 tonnes, tumbling and non-cooperative, in low Earth orbit around 600 km altitude | Capture method: Astroscale in-house robotic arm technology for capture, following rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), followed by controlled deorbit/re-entry | Developed under a JAXA Phase II CRD2 contract valued at approximately 13.2 billion yen (roughly 82-88 million USD); not sold as a standalone commercial product | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Provisioner (APS-R Refueler) | Astroscale U.S. Inc. | USA | Payload: Transfers up to approx. 100 kg of storable hydrazine propellant to client spacecraft; refuels itself by docking with an Orbit Fab depot via the RAFTI interface | Government contract (Space Force Other Transaction Authority agreement); not commercially priced | Visit manufacturer site → |
| ClearSpace-1 Active Debris Removal Chaser Spacecraft | ClearSpace SA (mission leadership now with OHB SE since April 2024) | Switzerland (Luxembourg headquarters) / Germany (OHB, Bremen) | Correction note: Original card described this mission with an outdated target (Vespa adapter) and launch date (2026); both have since changed, per official ESA and company sources | Current target: PROBA-1, an ESA technology-demonstration microsatellite (approx. 94-95 kg, roughly 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.8 m), launched October 2001, still operational | N/A, ESA-funded technology demonstration mission (contract value cited between roughly 86 million euros, per the original 2020 award, and later reports of about 110 million euros / 121 million USD reflecting mission revisions); not sold commercially | Visit manufacturer site → |
| ION Satellite Carrier Orbital Transfer Vehicle | D-Orbit S.p.A. | Italy (Fino Mornasco) | Vehicle type: Free-flying orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) / space tug with a configurable 64U satellite dispenser payload bay | Payload capacity: Up to 160 kg to low Earth orbit per mission | Not publicly listed as a per-unit price; contact D-Orbit for mission, hosted-payload and Precision Deployment service pricing | Visit manufacturer site → |
| GITAI S2 Dual-Arm Autonomous Space Robot | GITAI USA Inc. | USA (Torrance, California) / Japan | Configuration: Dual-arm system, each arm 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long | 2024 demonstration: Externally mounted on the ISS Nanoracks Bishop Airlock, launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 (NG-20), January-March 2024 | Not publicly listed; contact GITAI for mission and licensing pricing | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Intuitive Machines μNova (Micro-Nova) Hopper - Propulsive Lunar Surface Hopping Robot | Intuitive Machines | USA | Range: More than 26 km from its Nova-C lander's landing site | N/A (NASA CLPS-funded technology demonstration, not commercially sold) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| ispace TENACIOUS Lunar Micro Rover | ispace, inc. (ispace-EUROPE S.A., Luxembourg subsidiary) | Japan (Tokyo, TSE: 9348) / Luxembourg (development) | Weight: Approximately 5 kg | Payload: Forward-mounted HD camera; shovel for regolith sample collection | Not commercially sold; developed under ispace's HAKUTO-R lunar transportation program, co-funded by the Luxembourg Space Agency through the European Space Agency. Lost with the RESILIENCE lander in a June 2025 landing failure before surface operations began. | Visit manufacturer site → |
| ROSAIA | Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), funded by Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) | Genoa, Italy | Type: Multi-arm continuum parallel robot for in-orbit servicing (soft robotics) | Full Name: RObot parallelo continuo a Smorzamento Attivo su Intelligenza Artificiale (Continuum Parallel Robot with AI-Driven Active Damping) | Not for sale, ASI-funded research prototype | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Kurs Orbital ARCap Module | Kurs Orbital | Italy (Turin) | Category: Modular autonomous rendezvous and docking module for on-orbit servicing | Sensor suite: X-Band Radar for initial approach ranging, plus laser rangefinder and machine vision for close-range docking and capture precision | Contact Kurs Orbital; seed-stage, first flight-ready unit targeted for low Earth orbit missions | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Lunar Outpost Pegasus | Lunar Outpost | USA | Funding: 30 million dollars secured to develop Pegasus | Design: Leaner than Lunar Outpost's SUV sized Eagle rover, styled closer to NASA's Apollo era lunar buggy | Contact manufacturer | Visit manufacturer site → |
| MAPP | Lunar Outpost, Inc. | USA | Dimensions: 45 x 38 x 40 cm (base configuration) | Mass: 5 to 10 kg | Contact Lunar Outpost | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Canadarm3 - Next-Generation Robotic System for NASA Lunar Gateway | MDA Space (for the Canadian Space Agency) | Canada | Type: AI-enabled autonomous space robotic system | Configuration: Large robotic arm (8.5 m, carbon fiber composite, approx. 1,076 kg, 7 degrees of freedom) + small dexterous arm + tool and on-orbit replaceable unit caddy | N/A (government/space agency contract; CA $999.8 million / approx. USD $730 million design and build contract, awarded June 2024) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| NASA Astrobee - Free-Flying ISS Robot | NASA Ames Research Center (operations now run under a Space Act Agreement with Arkisys, Inc. since September 2025) | USA | Form factor: Approx. 32 cm (12.5 in) cube with soft bumper corners, approx. 10 kg | Propulsion: Battery-powered electric impellers, air expelled through steerable nozzles for 6 degrees of freedom movement | N/A, NASA research platform, not sold commercially | Visit manufacturer site → |
| VolcanoBot 2 | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | USA (Pasadena, CA) | Type: Tethered Volcanic Fissure-Exploring Rover | Length: 26 cm (10 inches) | Not commercially available (NASA JPL research platform) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| NASA CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), hardware by Motiv Space Systems | Pasadena, California, USA | Fleet Size: Three rovers plus one base station | Size Class: Suitcase-size per rover | NASA technology demonstration, not sold commercially | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) | Northrop Grumman Corporation (incl. SpaceLogistics LLC) | Dulles, Virginia, USA | Type: Robotic Satellite Servicing Spacecraft (Life Extension) | Mass: 2,330 kg (MEV-1) | Contact manufacturer (multi-year service contract model) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Northrop Grumman Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) | Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics LLC | USA (Dulles, Virginia) | Launch: Launched July 21, 2026 from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on a Falcon 9, carrying three Mission Extension Pods | Mass: MRV approx. 3,000 kg; each Mission Extension Pod approx. 400 kg | Developed in partnership with DARPA; not sold as a standalone commercial product, servicing offered as a contracted mission | Visit manufacturer site → |
| RAVEN and NEST | Orbit Fab | USA | RAVEN Propellant Capacity: 150-200 kg | Docking Interface: RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface) | Not disclosed for RAVEN/NEST vehicles (RAFTI docking port priced at approximately $30,000 per unit) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Otter Autonomous Satellite Servicing Vehicle | Starfish Space, Inc. | USA (Tukwila, Washington) | Class: ESPA-class small satellite servicer, roughly 10x smaller and lighter than earlier servicing vehicles | Propulsion: All-electric | Not publicly listed as a unit price; U.S. Space Force has awarded individual Otter vehicle contracts of $37.5M and $54.5M | Visit manufacturer site → |
| FLEX Rover | Venturi Astrolab, Inc. | USA | Payload Capacity: Up to 1,500 to 2,000 kg depending on configuration | Robotic Arm: 6-degree-of-freedom arm, 26+ kg capacity within 2m workspace | Contact Astrolab (commercial mission slots from $160M+ in signed contracts for Mission 1) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| Venturi Astrolab CLV-1 | Venturi Astrolab, Inc. | Hawthorne, California, USA | Stowed Dimensions: Approx. 2 m long x 2.3 m wide x 2.2 m tall (for CLPS lander delivery) | Deployed Dimensions: Approx. 4 m long x 2.3 m wide x 2.6 m tall to top of antenna | NASA task order valued at approximately $219 million (not sold commercially) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| CLV-1 (Crewed Lunar Vehicle-1) | Venturi Astrolab, Inc. | USA (Hawthorne, California) | Weight: Maximum of approximately 2,094 lb (950 kg) | Max Speed: More than 6 mph on level ground | NASA task order contract; not commercially priced (initial award $219 million) | Visit manufacturer site → |
| FLEX Rover (Flexible Logistics and Exploration) | Venturi Astrolab, Inc. | USA (Hawthorne, California) | Payload capacity: Up to 1,500-1,600 kg and 3 cubic meters of cargo via modular Universal Payload Interface (UPI) | Combined mass: Over 2 tons (rover plus full cargo load) | Contact Astrolab (NASA LTVS contract vehicle; commercial payload services) | Visit manufacturer site → |
How to choose
Space and orbital robots cover satellite servicing, debris removal and robotic arm systems for in orbit operations, an extremely specialized category bought by space agencies, satellite operators and a small number of commercial space companies.
Mission heritage matters more than specifications
For orbital hardware, flight heritage (has this exact system, or a close variant, actually flown and performed successfully) is often more important than any single specification, since the cost of failure in orbit is enormous and unrecoverable. Ask directly about flight history, not just design capability.
Compatibility with your satellite bus or docking standard
Servicing and docking systems must match the target satellite's design, including docking interface standards, and this compatibility question usually dominates the entire procurement process long before cost does.
Regulatory and orbital debris compliance
Check the manufacturer's compliance with relevant national and international orbital debris mitigation guidelines, this affects launch licensing in most jurisdictions and is not optional paperwork.
Buy, hire or lease
Space hardware procurement is almost always a direct, long lead time contract with the manufacturer rather than an off the shelf purchase. J2R can help make the initial introduction and frame the early technical conversation.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a space & orbital robot?
- Satellite servicing, debris removal and orbital robotic arm systems for on-orbit operations
- Are there space & orbital robots for sale right now?
- Yes. This page lists 26 space & orbital robots from 22 manufacturers including Astrobotic Technology, Astroscale, Astroscale Japan Inc. (Astroscale Holdings Inc.), Astroscale U.S. Inc. and others, most sold or ordered direct. A handful of specialist and defense oriented models are quote only or program based rather than an instant checkout, that is noted on the individual listing.
- What is the best space & orbital robot to start with?
- There is no single best space & orbital robot, it depends on the job. The comparison table above lines up 5 real options side by side, from Kurs Orbital ARCap Module to Provisioner (APS-R Refueler), so you can match specifications to your actual task instead of a marketing claim.
- How much does a space & orbital robot cost?
- Almost no manufacturer in this category publishes a price online, this is quote based equipment priced to your project. Use the manufacturer link on each model below to request a real number instead of guessing from a brochure.
- Can I rent or lease a space & orbital robot instead of buying?
- Some manufacturers in this category offer direct rental or lease terms. For the rest, J2R can help broker a short term hire or lease arrangement with the manufacturer or an approved reseller.