RobotMe summary
Icarus Robotics has tested its free-flying JOY robot during a series of parabolic flights. The campaign evaluated manipulation, state estimation and flight control in brief periods of real microgravity, ahead of a planned International Space Station mission.
JOY combines free flight with robotic arms and pinch grippers for cargo and logistics tasks inside a pressurized station. Icarus says the tests support finalizing hardware for a NASA handover, with the Joyride-1 mission planned for 2027 under an agreement with Voyager Technologies. These are preflight development milestones, not evidence that the robot is already operating aboard the ISS.