Gitai

GITAI is a Japanese space robotics company founded in 2016 by Sho Nakanose and headquartered in Tokyo, developing autonomous robotic systems for satellite servicing, space station assembly and maintenance, and planetary surface operations — targeting the replacement of costly and dangerous extravehicular activities (EVA/spacewalks) with remotely operated or autonomous robotic solutions.

GITAI's flagship product is the G1 robotic arm, a dexterous manipulator designed for in-space assembly and servicing tasks on orbital platforms. The company achieved a landmark demonstration in October 2021 when a GITAI robotic arm performed the first commercial robotic task demonstration on the exterior of the International Space Station — executing panel assembly, switch operations, and cable routing tasks autonomously inside a NanoRacks commercial airlock module to validate performance in the actual space environment. This milestone established GITAI's first orbital flight heritage.

Beyond the ISS demonstration, GITAI is developing larger, more capable robotic arm systems for future commercial space stations including Axiom Station, and lunar surface rover robots targeting JAXA, NASA Artemis, and commercial lunar program applications. The company's lunar robots are designed for regolith excavation, construction, and infrastructure maintenance tasks that would support sustained human lunar presence.

GITAI raised $17.1 million in Series A funding in 2021 from investors including JAFCO, Space Capital, the University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, and Pegasus Tech Ventures, with additional backing from Japanese strategic investors. The company competes with Maxar Technologies, Astroscale, and ClearSpace in the nascent in-orbit servicing and space robotics market.