All articles tagged with #in orbit refueling
A study presented at the IEEE Aerospace Conference suggests SpaceX’s Starship could dramatically shorten NASA’s Uranus mission by leveraging in-orbit refueling and the possibility of using Starship as an aerobraking shield, potentially cutting travel time from over 13 years to about six-and-a-half and reducing costs.
Astroscale is developing an in-space refueling vehicle, APS-R, to transfer hydrazine from a fuel depot in geostationary Earth orbit to client satellites, enabling uninterrupted operations. The vehicle, about the size of a gas pump, will rendezvous and dock with Orbit Fab's fuel depot and service Astroscale's Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI) satellite. The project, funded by a $25.5 million U.S. Space Force contract, aims to extend the life and mobility of satellites in orbit, with APS-R set to be delivered by 2026.
Lockheed Martin's Linuss experiment, consisting of two cubesats, successfully demonstrated AI algorithms needed for in-orbit servicing operations. The company plans to develop servicing vehicles for commercial and government markets, including in-orbit refueling and software upgrades. The experiment also tested space domain awareness cameras and a docking device for refueling or attaching new sensors. Lockheed Martin is funding several space projects to transition to defense and civil space government programs, including a mid-size bus, Pony Express 2 and TacSat satellites, and a lunar orbit service called Parsec.