--- title: Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots description: NASA and Google will send floating robots equipped with the technology behind Project Tango into orbit this summer canonical: https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/ author: Michelle Arrouas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-22T06:36:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:02:01.994Z article:section: Science og:title: Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots og:description: NASA and Google will send floating robots equipped with the technology behind Project Tango into orbit this summer og:url: https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots twitter:description: NASA and Google will send floating robots equipped with the technology behind Project Tango into orbit this summer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Apr 22, 2014 6:36 AM CUT by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Apr 22, 2014 6:36 AM CUT Tech giant Google is [helping](http://siliconangle.com/blog/2014/04/21/googles-project-tango-finds-a-new-territory-the-nasa-space-station/ "undefined") NASA make their floating robots smarter. Since last summer, the two organizations have been cooperating on equipping NASA’s SPHERE satellites with 3-D mapping technology to allow the floating robots to move around more freely. They currently use a system based upon ultrasound and infrared light to navigate. The SPHERES, which serve as robotic assistants to astronauts at the International Space Station, will be equipped with the technology behind [newly unveiled Project Tango](http://time.com/9214/google-introduces-phone-with-3d-sensors/ "undefined") to better get around. The technology allows phones to make 3-D real-time maps of their environment, and so facilitating autonomous navigation. “Think about having a free-flying robot that can fly around inside a space station, perhaps equipped with some type of future smartphone,” Zach Moratto, one of the NASA research engineers involved in the project, said in a [video](https://plus.google.com/+GoogleATAP/posts/P12BFo7bam3 "undefined") about the development. The Project Tango-equipped floating robots will be launched into orbit this summer, a [statement](https://plus.google.com/+GoogleATAP/posts/P12BFo7bam3 "undefined") by Google said, before concluding on a bright note: “The future is awesome.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/"},"headline":"Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots","datePublished":"2014-04-22T06:36:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:01.994Z","description":"NASA and Google will send floating robots equipped with 3-D mapping technology into orbit this summer, enabling them to navigate autonomously for the first time. \"The future is awesome,\" brags Google","url":"https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/","keywords":["Tech","Smartphones","Google","NASA","Technology","robotics","robots","Science topic","international space station","us"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Arrouas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michelle-arrouas/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/71355/google-nsa-robots-space-navigating-floating/","name":"Google and NASA Cooperate on Building Floating Space Robots"}}]}] ```