Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

Robotic Operations Center (ROC)

An overhead look at the layout of the Robotic Operations Center (ROC) at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
An overhead look at the layout of the Robotic Operations Center (ROC) at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The ROC is a one-of-a-kind facility that develops and demonstrates technologies needed to further In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) missions.

The Robotic Operations Center (ROC) is a one-of-a-kind facility that develops and demonstrates technologies needed to further In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing missions. Spread out across three work areas, the facility houses a range of motion platforms including two 7-Degrees of Freedom (DOF) industrial robots, one 7-DOF engineering design unit (EDU) robot system, and one 6-DOF Hexapod robot. These platforms are used for a wide array of tasks from autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations tests between two spacecraft, grapple simulations, satellite servicing simulations, and the ability to simulate small-scale contact dynamics.

A 6 ft by 10 ft Gravity Offset Table that weighs roughly six tons is used to create a two-dimensional free-floating environment to imitate how an object will react to forces and torques in space. The center, about the size of a school gymnasium, is painted black to simulate the darkness of space when the lights are turned off and solar simulators can be turned on to simulate how sunlight will glint off space objects. A variety of satellite and space payload mockups are used for simulations, along with a metrology system, robot flight control room, propellant transfer system hardware, software-based dynamic simulation of objects moving in space, and an overhead crane to develop and demonstrate the technologies for satellite servicing missions that aim to refuel or upgrade satellites.

To learn more about these technologies visit NASA’s ISAM capabilities page. 

Detail shot of the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) autocapture test bed during a test of the Robotic Servicing Arm inside the Robotic Operations Center (ROC) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Feb 23, 2023. These tests are critical to developing docking algorithms and procedures for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) missions and services. Credits: NASA/Michael Guinto

The Robotic Operations Center is managed by ETD’s Mission Engineering & System Analysis Division (MESA). Contact MESA for more information.