CNN
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Since the dawn of the space age with the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, humanity has Over 15,000 satellites enter orbit. Just over half are still functioning. The rest, after running out of fuel and reaching the end of their useful life, either burn up in the atmosphere or are still orbiting the Earth as useless hunks of metal.
As such, they pose a threat to the International Space Station and other satellites, the European Space Agency reports. estimate To date, more than 640 “anomalous events causing destruction, explosion, collision, or fragmentation” have occurred.
This has created an aura of space junk on Earth, consisting of 36,500 objects larger than 10 centimeters (3.94 inches) and a whopping 130 million pieces of debris up to 1 centimeter (0.39 inches). I did. Removal of this debris is expensive and complex, and although several plans have been made, no concrete results have yet been achieved.
One way to start tackling this problem is to stop producing more junk by refueling satellites, rather than decommissioning them when they run out of power.
“Right now, we can’t refuel a satellite in orbit,” says Daniel Faber, CEO of Orbit Fab. But his Colorado-based company I want to change that.
“When a satellite runs out of fuel, it can’t keep it in place in orbit, and it becomes a dangerous piece of debris that can drift around at very high speeds and pose a risk of collision,” Faber said. “But fuel scarcity also creates a whole paradigm where people design spacecraft missions around moving as little as possible.
“That means we can’t have a tow truck on the track to remove any debris that happens to be left behind. We can’t repair or maintain it, and we can’t upgrade anything. We can’t inspect it if it breaks. There are a lot of things they can’t do and operate in a very constrained way. That’s the solution we’re trying to provide.”
The concept of refueling and servicing satellites in orbit was pioneered by NASA in 2007 and launched in collaboration with DARPA (the U.S. Department of Defense’s research arm) and Boeing. orbital express, a mission involving two dedicated satellites that successfully docked and exchanged fuel.After that, NASA robot refueling mission (RRM) further investigated the challenges of refueling existing satellites.
The agency is currently working on: OSAM-1is scheduled to launch in 2026 and will attempt to capture and refuel the Earth observation satellite Landsat 7, which has run out of gas.
“This is a mission to refuel a satellite that wasn’t ready for refueling,” Faber said. “So they effectively have to cut into the satellite and perform surgery to access the fuel pipe. This allows for great satellite repair capabilities, but it comes at a price. ” According to NASA, OSAM-1 will cost approximately $2 billion in total.
Orbit Fab has no plans to address its existing satellite fleet. Instead, we want to focus on those that haven’t been launched yet and equip them with standardized ports (called). Raftyfor the Rapid Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface — which greatly simplifies refueling operations and keeps prices down.
“What we’re looking at is creating a low-cost architecture,” Faber says. “There are still no commercially available fuel ports to refuel satellites in orbit. Despite the great aspirations we have for a bustling space economy, what we are actually working on is a gas cap. And we are a gas cap company.”
OrbitFab, which promotes itself with the tagline “Gas Station in Space,” is working on a system that includes fuel ports, refueling shuttles that deliver fuel to satellites that need it, and refueling tankers, or in-orbit gas stations. There is. The shuttle could receive fuel from there. The company has posted a $20 million price tag for in-orbit delivery of hydrazine, the most common satellite propellant.
In 2018, the company launched two products. test bed We will go to the International Space Station to test interfaces, pumps, and piping. In 2021, we launched Tanker-001 Tenzing, a fuel depot demonstrator that has influenced current hardware design.
The next launch is currently scheduled for 2024. air force research institute” Faber says. “At this point, the government is treating this as a demonstration, but we’re getting a lot of interest from people across the U.S. government who recognize the value of refueling.”
Orbit Fab’s first private customer was astro scaleis a Japanese satellite services company that developed the first satellite designed for refueling. The ship, called LEXI, will be equipped with a RAFTI port and is currently scheduled to launch in 2026.
Simone D’Amico, an associate professor of astronautics at Stanford University who is not affiliated with OrbitFab, said in-orbit maintenance is one of the keys to ensuring safe and sustainable space exploration. “Can you imagine terrestrial transportation infrastructure, roads and cities without gas stations and auto repair shops? Can you imagine disposable cars and airplanes?” he asks. “The development of space infrastructure and the proliferation of space assets is reaching a critical mass that is no longer sustainable without a paradigm shift.”
D’Amico added that there are many reasons why this didn’t happen sooner, including that until recently the need was not recognized due to the limited number of spacecraft, and that These include the fact that maintenance techniques are becoming economically viable. Satellites continue to become smaller.
He believes Orbit Fab is original, especially from a marketing perspective. “The company is probably the only company in the world in a position to deploy ‘gas stations’ in orbit,” he says. “Orbit Fab’s approach is very forward-looking and I think it can pay off in the medium to long term. It involves a high degree of risk.”
OrbitFab initially plans to develop its market as a fuel supplier to companies such as Astroscale that plan to inspect, repair, upgrade or collect debris from satellites in orbit. Success in this area could persuade major telecommunications companies with large fleets of satellites to revamp their business models and accept refueling and services, Faber said.
He added that once a pattern for delivering fuel in orbit is established, the next step is to start producing fuel there. “In 10 to 15 years, we want to build a refinery in orbit,” he says. A mineral that is used as a raw material for 3D printers for growing plants. We want to be a supplier of industrial chemicals to the emerging commercial space industry. ”