Crossing the Sim2Real Gap Between Simulation and Ground Testing to Space Deployment of Autonomous Free-flyer Control

Abstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) offers transformative potential for robotic control in space. We present the first on-orbit demonstration of RL-based autonomous control of a free-flying robot, the NASA Astrobee, aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Using NVIDIA's Omniverse physics simulator and curriculum learning, we trained a deep neural network to replace Astrobee's standard attitude and translation control, enabling it to navigate in microgravity. Our results validate a novel training pipeline that bridges the simulation-to-reality (Sim2Real) gap, utilizing a GPU-accelerated, scientific-grade simulation environment for efficient Monte Carlo RL training. This successful deployment demonstrates the feasibility of training RL policies terrestrially and transferring them to space-based applications. This paves the way for future work in In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM), enabling rapid on-orbit adaptation to dynamic mission requirements.