humanoid.observer
44 robots on sale today
NASA (Johnson Space Center) · United States

Valkyrie

Valkyrie (R5) is NASA Johnson Space Center's electric humanoid, built in 2013 for the DARPA Robotics Challenge and later loaned to universities and to Woodside Energy for remote-operation research. Several Apptronik founders worked on it. It remains a research platform.

Research not for sale Score 21/100, niche
Valkyrie, NASA (Johnson Space Center)NASA/Bill Stafford, James Blair, Regan Geeseman via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
No written verdict yet

We have not sat down with this one. The score below is computed from the data we hold, and the facts on this page are sourced. It is not on sale, so there is nothing to recommend.

21/100
Niche
Provisional, specs incomplete
Capability 18/30
Value 0/25
Buyability 2/20
Ecosystem 0/15
Proof 1/10
Computed from the data · how the score works

How the score is built

Capability is what the machine physically does. Value compares it with others at a similar price, not with the whole market. Buyability asks whether you can really order one. Ecosystem is the software and community around it. Proof is what it has done in the field, which is where most humanoids score badly and should.

Read the full method

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Status
Research
Category
research
First revealed
December 2013
Form
bipedal
Height
188 cm
Weight
n/a
Payload
n/a
Degrees of freedom
44
Battery
n/a
Runtime
n/a
Walking speed
n/a
Actuation
electric, series elastic actuators
Units deployed (est.)
not disclosed
Teleoperation
yes

Where it stands

Research platform since 2013; units at NASA JSC and partner universities; loaned to Woodside Energy in Australia in 2023.

What stands out

  • Built in about a year for the DARPA Robotics Challenge trials
  • 44 DoF, about 188 cm
  • Woodside Energy loan in Australia 2023

Autonomy, observed

Used in the DARPA Robotics Challenge trials (2013) and NASA Space Robotics Challenge; remote-operation trials at Woodside (2023 onward).

Price and volume

government program

Four units are usually cited (NASA plus three university partners); weight reported between 125 and 136 kg.

In the blog

Valkyrie is covered in these 2 articles

All articles
Explainer · 6 Sep 2026

Humanoid races, games and fights: what the competitions proved

Our record holds 11 competition events from 1997 to 2025 and 17 machines tied to them. Six can be ordered, three at a public price, and 13 of the 17 carry a teleoperation flag of yes or partial.

Explainer · 6 Sep 2026

Startups, automakers, universities: who builds humanoids

108 makers, nine kinds. Startups hold 37 of the 44 humanoids you can order. Automakers, universities, big tech, conglomerates and NASA hold 45 robots between them and sell none of them.

Same maker

Other robots by NASA (Johnson Space Center).

NASA (Johnson Space Center) · United States

Robonaut 2

Retired

Robonaut 2 was developed by NASA and General Motors and became the first humanoid robot in space when it launched to the ISS in February 2011. A leg set arrived in 2014 but hardware faults limited its use and it returned to Earth in 2018. Its dexterous hands influenced later industrial humanoids.

Heightn/a
Weight150 kg
Pricenot for sale

Sources

  1. 01
  2. 02

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