Startup wants to build a space station that refuels satellites by 2025
- Reference: 1661926693
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/31/space-station-refueling/
- Source link:
The American upstart believes there's a market for its planned service because the growing numbers of companies launching satellites increasingly want their hardware that have longer working lives. One way to achieve lengthier missions is orbital refueling.
Orbit Fab is therefore hoping to build, for want of a better word, a depot 300 km from Earth in geostationary orbit that can send out shuttles each containing, say, 100kg of hydrazine to visiting spacecraft that need a refill and can plug into the tanks.
[1]
And suitably capable spacecraft could also dock with the depot to pick up fuel to take to satellites and other craft, SpaceNews [2]reported .
[3]
Orbit Fab's rendering of its refueling station ... Click to enlarge
Co-founder and chief development officer Jeremy Schiel said government agencies and private operators have "expressed explicit interest to get refueled in the next three to five years." He also said that the design of the fuel depot system is "basically done," and that the company is now working on designing its fuel shuttles.
"It's much easier to come up with a price for GEO [geostationary orbits] because it's one orbit," Schiel explained. "You're going to have to have a different price point on each different orbit in low earth orbit because of how you're going to get there. We're tackling the easy commercial price of GEO first and then we'll start working our way down."
[4]Hubble Space Telescope restored to service: No repeat of those missing messages, but here's a software patch anyway
[5]Jeff Bezos wants to build a business park in space
[6]Clean up orbit first, then we can think about space factories, says FCC
[7]DARPA wants to refuel drones in flight – wirelessly
Astroscale, an orbital debris removal biz, is the only customer that has publicly signed up for the satellite refueling service. Orbit Fab has [8]committed to supplying 1,000 kilograms of xenon propellant to top up Astroscale's Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI) satellites, which are capable of being refueled in space and are scheduled to launch in 2026 into geostationary orbit.
These satellites, and other future craft, need to include Orbit Fab's Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI) ports that the fuel shuttles will use to top up visiting craft.
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Spacecraft in geostationary orbits today won't have RAFTI ports, and Orbit Fab will need to come up with another method of refueling them. Schiel said the startup will have to rely on third-party vehicles that are compatible with what's already in space as well as Orbit Fab's hardware, such servicing spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman or Astroscale.
"They can go service the legacy satellites and we can service the servicing vehicles that are coming online," Schiel said. "Eventually, when everyone's flying a RAFTI fueling port, we can start going directly to them."
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The Register has sought further comment from Orbit Fab. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yw8xOe0elFgNJQksD6CQGAAAARU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://spacenews.com/orbit-fab-announces-in-space-hydrazine-refueling-service/
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/08/30/orbit_lab_refuel_station.jpg
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/07/hubble_space_telescope_restored_to/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/26/blue_origin_orbital_reef/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/08/orbital_cleanup_space_factories/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/14/darpa_drone_wireless_charging/
[8] https://www.orbitfab.com/fuelsale
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[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: and you thought fuel prices down here were bad!
It presents a different set of challenges with some intersection. In aircraft, you have the issues of interfering aerodynamics and mismatched cruise speeds (especially if a fixed wing is supplying fuel to a helicopter), which are absent in space. For spacecraft, you have to do orbital intersections before final fine manoeuvres to dock, with the ever present risk that thruster failure during gap-closing manoeuvres might slam your craft together. In 2D, it's a bit like the difference between transferring fuel between cars with a minimum speed vs transferring objects between people on an ice rink, blasting around with CO2 extinguishers.
KSP is a fun way to learn about the latter and will nicely illustrate why they're using service shuttles rather than moving the whole fuel platform or expecting the satellites to come to them.
Oops!
Minor typo, geostationary orbit is 35,785 km not 300Km small difference, but probably important when you are low on fuel!
Re: Oops!
It could use all that fuel to stay geostationary at 300km but it probably wouldn't be up there for long and rendezvous would be a pain.
Re: Oops!
300 km is the altitude where the fireball will be visible. The cause is a big boom which will propel the surviving debris (*) up into higher orbit and, with some luck, all the way to GEO.
(*) That is why they already have the debris removal firm as customer. It is about symmetry of work. One has it, the other provides it, for the other to have it, to be provided, etc..
Oh PLEASE make this happen!
Ever since I saw the moon landing as a kid I have been waiting for our Glorious Flash Gordon Space Future to happen. Waiting desperately for Humanity to finally leave this asteroid-target before it's too late.
It's constantly been held back by shortsighted self-serving politicians and, well... idiots.
Anything that helps get us Out There a bit farther or assist the devices already in-flight is a massive plus.
"andy 1??", et al, the floor is yours...
RUD not an option
How does one get the hydrazine up there to refuel the refuling platform?
Several issues spring to mind... not least showering the earth in burning hydrazine in the event of a RUD on the pad, or later in the flight.... it's lovely stuff just the sort of thing to ruin your day completely.
I guess you could make the stuff in orbit providing the process is automatic and the reagents required are less problematic than the N2H4 itself.
Not just rocket science but chemical engineering. All good popcorn worthy stuff, unless this project is just a venture capital black hole....
Re: How to get the hydrzine to GEO
There is a long list of rockets that use unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide as propellants. Use one of those and no-one is going to care about a few hundred kilos of hydrazine in the middle of a RUD. Even better, some launch providers dump their first stages (with residuals) on nearby villages by design. None of the locals complain about that any more.
It's a good idea. Throwing satellites away because their tank is empty is a waste and there's enough junk in space.
Northrop's Mission Extension Vehicle is an interesting solution too. Maybe would it be also possible to add a "plugin" to existing satellites to extend their lives?
Anyway, it goes in the right direction.
== Bring us Dabbsy back! ==
Charge for additional services
What about cleaning the "windscreen", or camera lenses as a premium service ?
and you thought fuel prices down here were bad!
In air refueling is hard.
In space? With the potential of what happens if two craft crash? Might explain the price tag...