NASA and Rice University have unveiled the world’s first open-source simulation and testing platform for robots designed to operate inside spacecraft and crewed habitat modules. The new system is named iMETRO Dynamic Simulation. It creates a high-fidelity digital twin of the iMETRO testing facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, allowing scientists and engineers worldwide to develop, test, and refine intra-vehicular robotic systems in a virtual environment.
The platform was presented by a joint team from NASA and Rice University at the 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Vienna. The developers believe this open simulator will significantly broaden access to space robotics research and accelerate the creation of technologies for future crewed missions.
iMETRO Dynamic Simulation is positioned as the world’s first open simulator for developing intra-vehicular space robots. The system enables users to design, test, and validate robotic solutions for spacecraft and future space habitats without requiring physical access to expensive NASA hardware.
At the core of the platform is a digital twin of the actual iMETRO research facility at Johnson Space Center. The virtual environment replicates full-scale mockups of spacecraft interiors and lunar habitat modules, enabling developers to test robots under conditions that closely mimic real-world environments.
The simulator primarily focuses on robotic manipulators that can be deployed inside spacecraft for maintenance and logistics tasks. In the future, these systems will be capable of transporting equipment, moving cargo, organizing storage, and performing various repair operations, thereby reducing the workload on astronauts during long-duration missions to the Moon and other destinations.
A key feature of the platform is a detailed model of an 8-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, representing a typical system used in space operations. Its modular architecture allows researchers to test new control algorithms, various hardware configurations, and operational scenarios within adaptable spacecraft interior models.
To maximize accessibility, the simulator supports ROS 2—one of the most widely used software development frameworks for robotics—alongside the MuJoCo physics engine, which is utilized for precise motion simulation of robotic systems. Developers can deploy the exact same robot models in both virtual environments and physical hardware. An integrated software conversion tool streamlines the transfer of algorithms from the simulator to actual robots, shortening development cycles and enhancing system compatibility.
The team also demonstrated the ability to transition rapidly from virtual modeling to physical hardware. Researchers developed a robotic application entirely within the simulator and transferred it to the physical iMETRO facility in under a day. This result highlights the accuracy of the digital twin and demonstrates that new robotic technologies can be validated faster prior to deployment in real space missions.
According to the researchers, one of the primary challenges facing future long-duration human spaceflights is the efficient allocation of astronaut time. A significant portion of a crew’s schedule aboard spacecraft is dedicated to maintenance and routine tasks, which could eventually be handled by autonomous or remotely operated robots.
Until now, progress in space robotics has been constrained by a lack of accessible, open-source simulators capable of realistically replicating the complex environments inside spacecraft, including tight spaces and microgravity conditions. Most developments relied on proprietary software tools or restricted test facilities, hindering collaboration among research groups and slowing technological advancement.
The release of iMETRO Dynamic Simulation aims to address this bottleneck. Experts from around the globe can now remotely build and test new software for space robots, as well as evaluate its compatibility with various hardware configurations on an actual NASA testbed.
“For the first time, researchers around the world will be able to remotely build and test new robotic software and see how it interacts with different hardware configurations and operational scenarios on a physical NASA testbed,” stated Nikki Hart, a graduate student at Rice University and a participant in the NASA Pathways program.
The developers anticipate that the new platform will play a crucial role in advancing robotics for future lunar missions, orbital space stations, and deep-space exploration.