Space Station OS – Setup & Demo Guide

SpaceStationOSConceptMovie.1.mp4

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Quick Start with Docker (with GUI support)

If you prefer not to build everything locally, use our prebuilt Docker image to get up and running instantly — including GUI support for the astronaut simulation.

1. Pull the image

docker pull ghcr.io/space-station-os/space_station_os:latest

Docker must be installed and running. No need to install ROS 2 or dependencies manually.

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2. Allow GUI access

Before running the container, allow local Docker containers to access your X server:

xhost +local:root

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3. Run the container with GUI support

docker run -it --rm \
  --env="DISPLAY=$DISPLAY" \
  --env="QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1" \
  --env="LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1" \
  --volume="/tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw" \
  --network=host \
  ghcr.io/space-station-os/space_station_os:latest

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Local Installation (Build from Source)

Use this method if you want to modify the source code or don't want to use Docker.

Prerequisites

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04
• ROS 2: Humble (Desktop) → ROS 2 Installation Guide

1. Create a ROS 2 workspace

mkdir -p ~/ssos_ws/src
cd ~/ssos_ws/src

2. Clone the super-repository with submodules

git clone https://github.com/space-station-os/space_station_os.git
cd space_station_os

3. Build the workspace

Go back to the workspace root and build everything:

cd ~/ssos_ws
colcon build --symlink-install
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update 
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
source install/setup.bash

Always source the workspace before running ROS 2 commands:

source ~/ssos_ws/install/setup.bash

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TO RUN THE DEMOS

(Check out our wiki)

Contributing

See the project backlog: Space Station OS – Project Board