AbstractSafe extravehicular activity (EVA) requires astronauts to employ tethers to ensure proximity to their spacecraft. This research strives to improve EVA efficiency by allowing crew members to remotely release and retract their safety tether from extended distances using a tether management system consisting of a remotely releasable robotic gripper and a retractor that controls the length of tether. This circumvents the current need to travel back to the tether anchor and manually release the tether, which requires the crew member to travel three times further than necessary. The automated tether management system is essentially a multifunctional teleoperated robotic system that has the potential to improve EVA efficiency, reduce crew‐member fatigue, and improve efficiency of existing robots such as Robonaut. Design and performance requirements are specified to comply with current safety standards. The multifunctional gripper is designed to provide fail‐safe self‐locking positive engagement on a variety of spacecraft anchors. The retractor employs motorized and passive retraction to minimize power consumption, allow the retractor to mimic existing retractable safety tethers functionality, and facilitate control over gripper flight. A nonconductive fiber‐optic core structural tether is designed to transmit commands to the gripper while reducing the risk of developing electrical charges at orbital velocities. Experiments in a simulated microgravity environment evaluate behavior during gripper release and retraction and provide guidelines for improved system operation. Based on these guidelines, the system is then further optimized via simulation for improved retraction considering orbital dynamics. These results provide a recommended operating envelope to allow safe automated gripper retraction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.