Valkyrie, also designated R5, is a full-size humanoid robot developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Its design and development began in October 2012, with a prototype completed in July 2013, built in a remarkably short ~15-month period to compete in the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials. Valkyrie is a rugged, fully electric humanoid built to operate in degraded or damaged human-engineered environments — and, after NASA refocused the project, to support future space missions, potentially as a "caretaker" robot preparing or maintaining habitats on the Moon or Mars before and alongside human crews.
Availability
Valkyrie is a NASA research robot, never commercially sold. NASA built a small number of units — keeping one in-house and providing others as research loans to universities (notably MIT and Northeastern University, and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland) to develop advanced software and capabilities. Each robot was reported to cost on the order of $2 million to build. There is no purchasing path.
Full Specifications
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Developer | NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) |
| Designed / prototype | Design began Oct 2012; prototype completed July 2013 (built in ~15 months) |
| Height | ~1.87–1.9 m |
| Weight | ~125–129 kg |
| Degrees of freedom | 44 |
| Hands | Each hand has a thumb and three fingers |
| Actuation | Fully electric; series-elastic actuators in arms, legs, torso, and hands; "Turbodriver" motor controllers (derived from the Robonaut 2 motor controller) |
| Battery | ~1.8 kWh dual-voltage, swappable |
| Structure | Modular — each limb removable via a single connector and one bolt; covered in soft fabric and foam |
| Sensing | Carnegie Robotics head camera system; stereo cameras plus laser/lidar 3-D imaging |
| Control | Autonomous operation and remote control/teleoperation |
| Heritage | Built on NASA's prior experience with Robonaut 2 |
| Purpose | Originally disaster response; refocused (2014) toward deep-space and planetary missions |
Significance
Valkyrie is NASA's first bipedal humanoid robot and a significant step in the agency's vision of humanoid robots that work alongside — or ahead of — astronauts. Built on Robonaut 2's technology but as a free-standing biped, Valkyrie was designed to handle the kinds of tasks a Mars "caretaker" robot might face: repairing habitat leaks, deploying solar arrays, and aligning communication antennas before humans arrive. By loaning units to leading universities, NASA turned Valkyrie into a shared research platform that advanced humanoid software well beyond NASA's own walls — and its series-elastic, modular design influenced later humanoid engineering.
Valkyrie vs Related Robots
- Valkyrie vs NASA Robonaut: Robonaut is the earlier NASA humanoid program; Valkyrie is the free-standing bipedal robot built on Robonaut 2's technology.
- Valkyrie vs DRC-HUBO: Both were built for the DARPA Robotics Challenge; DRC-HUBO won the 2015 Finals.
- Valkyrie vs Apptronik Apollo: Connected by engineering heritage — teams behind Apollo worked on Valkyrie — but Valkyrie is a NASA research robot, Apollo a commercial product.
Source: NASA Johnson Space Center
