Imagine you need to build a remote control interface for a robot that will one day drive across the surface of Mars. You have the full resources of one of the world's largest aerospace companies behind you. What do you reach for?
A Steam Deck, apparently.
Airbus engineers at their Stevenage, UK campus are using a modified Valve handheld as the physical control interface for their ExoMars rover prototype. The setup surfaced publicly when documentarian Tom Scott visited the facility and was given a hands-on with the rover, capturing the whole thing on video. The Steam Deck in question appears to be the standard LCD model, running what looks like custom software built specifically for rover navigation.
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Why a gaming handheld makes sense for a space rover
Here's the thing: the Steam Deck's control layout is genuinely well-suited for this kind of application. The analog sticks, triggers, bumpers, and trackpads give engineers a dense set of inputs in a compact, familiar form factor. Designing a bespoke controller from scratch would take time and budget that can go toward the actual rover systems instead.
The control scheme itself is straightforward. The rover moves forward via the analog stick, and pressing a bumper rotates the wheels 90 degrees, letting the rover sidestep rather than execute a wide turning arc. That last detail matters a lot on Mars, where getting wedged against a rock could end a mission. The wheel rotation trick is a neat mechanical solution, and the Steam Deck's bumper placement maps to it naturally.
The Stevenage team is specifically working on autonomous navigation systems for the rover, meaning the Steam Deck is a testing tool rather than the final solution. Once the rover lands on the Red Planet, it won't be waiting for a human to push a stick. The communication delay between Earth and Mars alone makes real-time remote control impractical, so full autonomy is the goal.
The Rosalind Franklin rover and a 2030 target
The rover in question is named Rosalind Franklin, after the British chemist whose X-ray crystallography work was central to understanding DNA structure. Airbus Defence and Space UK managing director Kata Escott has described the project as the culmination of more than 20 years of work. The current development phase covers the rover's autonomous navigation, along with the landing platform's mechanical, thermal, and propulsion systems.
The target launch window sits at 2030, which gives the team several years to move from Steam Deck-steered prototype to a fully autonomous system capable of surviving Mars entry, descent, and surface operations. That is a significant engineering gap to close, but the Stevenage facility's test bed, designed to simulate Martian terrain, is where that gap gets bridged one test run at a time.
For players curious about how the Steam Deck holds up in more conventional settings, the Steam Deck compatibility guide for Crimson Desert breaks down what the hardware can actually handle in demanding modern titles.
What this actually says about gaming hardware
The Steam Deck being pressed into aerospace service is a genuine reflection of how far consumer gaming hardware has come. Valve built a device that is open, programmable, and physically reliable enough that engineers at a major aerospace contractor found it more practical than building something custom. That is not a small endorsement.
What most players miss is that the Steam Deck's Linux-based operating system and open architecture make it unusually hackable compared to most consumer devices. Airbus didn't need Valve's permission or a special developer kit. They just built software for it and got to work.
The Rosalind Franklin rover will eventually leave the Steam Deck behind entirely, navigating Mars on its own processing power. But for now, a handheld designed for playing games in bed is doing real work in one of the most demanding engineering programs on the planet. Keep an eye on the ExoMars project as 2030 approaches, and browse the gaming guides for more on the hardware powering your own gaming sessions closer to home.
