European Robotic Arm

Overview

The European Robotic Arm (ERA) is the first robot able to ‘walk’ around the Russian segment of the International Space Station. Light yet powerful, the orbital arm has the ability to anchor itself to the Station and move back and forward by itself, hand-over-hand between fixed base-points. This space robot looks like a pair of compasses and has a length of over 11 m. When stretched, it could pass a football from a penalty spot to the goalkeeper. The robot will serve as main manipulator on the Russian part of the Space Station. Its seven joints can handle multi-tonne payloads with a large range of motion for assembly tasks.

Key facts

Payload

8,000 kg

Reach

11,000 mm

Speed

—

Weight

—

IP rating

—

Battery

—

Power

—

Autonomy

fully autonomous

Launch year

2021

Price

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Status

active