Icarus Robotics uses KULR technology to power JOY free-flying space robot

A rendering of a production-ready version of Joy. | Source: Icarus Robotics

Icarus Robotics today said it has chosen KULR Technology Group as the battery provider for JOY, its autonomous free-flying platform. JOY will travel to the International Space Station, or ISS, in early 2027.

Under the agreement, KULR will supply its KULR ONE Space (K1S) battery systems to power JOY’s onboard systems as it autonomously navigates, maneuvers, and operates aboard the ISS. The Webster, Texas-based company engineered K1S to NASA safety standards and has already proven its effectiveness on the Artemis II crewed lunar mission.

Ethan Barajas, the co-founder and CEO of Icarus, told The Robot Report , there were a few reasons Icarus picked KULR, but flight heritage was the biggest one.

“In the space domain, flight heritage is everything,” Barajas said. “If you can point NASA to components that have already worked in space, the approval process moves much faster. KULR’s battery architecture has already flown on the Artemis program, which means when we’re working with Voyager and the ISS team, we can point to that and say, ‘This is a known variable.’ For a young startup trying to move fast, that matters enormously.”

“On top of that, KULR manufactures everything domestically — engineering, production, testing — which is increasingly important as we think about supply chain reliability for future missions,” he said.

Icarus first announced its plans to send JOY to the ISS in March, when it announced its mission management contract with Voyager Technologies. Powered by embodied AI , JOY will assist with routine tasks, infrastructure maintenance, and future commercial space station activities.

The New York-based startup said its goal is to free up astronauts so they can focus on higher-value research and mission objectives. Last year, Icarus raised $6.1 million in seed funding. Since then, Icarus has worked to turn its system into a scalable, production-ready robot.

To keep crew members safe and to reduce the risks of things going wrong, NASA has strict requirements for any batteries on its flights.

“Batteries for human spaceflight are an entirely different game,” Barajas said. “The governing standard is JSC 20793 , NASA’s crewed space vehicle battery safety requirements, which dictates how any battery flying near astronauts has to be designed and tested.”

“It sorts batteries into three Battery Risk Classifications, and anything over 80 watt-hours falls into the top tier, which NASA calls catastrophic,” he explained. “That’s the actual terminology. So when you’re building a high-power, untethered platform like JOY, the battery pack gets large, and the safety requirements become extremely stringent. For batteries at that level, NASA permits no cell-to-cell propagation at all.”