ORBES: DEPLOYING AUTONOMOUS EYEPIECES IN ORBIT
Founded by Anna Shaposhnik, ORBES aims to replace costly astronaut labor with robotic assistants capable of high-fidelity filming and structural inspection.
Terminal Entry: Operational Overview
Astronaut labor is a premium resource, currently valued at approximately $130,000 per hour. Reducing this overhead is the operational objective of ORBES, a robotics startup founded in 2024 by CEO Anna Shaposhnik. The firm focuses on offloading routine maintenance and documentation tasks to autonomous systems.
The Hardware Stack
According to Payload, the California-based venture is currently developing two distinct robotic platforms designed to bridge the gap between engineering utility and high-fidelity media capture:
- ORB: An internal station assistant designed for pressurized environments. ORB is scheduled for deployment to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025 via a partnership with Voyager Technologies.
- EXO-ORB: An external variant engineered for vacuum operations. This unit is slated for a demo flight on Symphony Space’s Adagio platform in late 2027 or early 2028.
Strategic Utility
The inception of ORBES stems from Shaposhnik’s collaboration with NASA Astronaut Terry Virts, who highlighted the logistical friction of filming in microgravity. While the long-term roadmap includes STEAM applications—such as VR telemetry and orbital cinematography—the immediate go-to-market strategy focuses on infrastructure integrity.
By utilizing robots for external spacecraft inspection and engineering reviews, ORBES aims to establish itself as a trusted operator for station maintenance. This dual-purpose approach addresses the urgent need for structural monitoring while providing the public with a high-definition view of life beyond the atmosphere. As infrastructure operators look toward scalable station management, robotic surrogates represent the most efficient path to sustained orbital presence.