Space gas stations: DIU to prototype commercial on-orbit satellite refueling

Updated at April 13, 2022 at 5:44 pm ET with comment by DIU.

WASHINGTON: The Defense Innovation Unit is looking to prototype “commercial refueling services” near the prime space real estate of Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), as well a “bulk fuel depot” in any orbital regime — and is asking both US and international companies for proposed solutions by April 18.

“With the tens of thousands of satellites to comprise the growing space economy, the ability to service and maintain a fleet of service platforms efficiently requires convenient and readily available fuel,” David Ryan, DIU program manager for the effort, told Breaking Defense. “A sustainable space economy is one that prolongs the life of these spacecraft, reducing the need for replacement and the accumulation of space debris.”

The DIU RAPIDS Refueling and Fuel Depot solicitation, issued last week, says that the ability “to refuel and maneuver are paramount to safety, stationkeeping and servicing.” “Future space systems require the ability to maneuver without regret. As such, these spacecraft must be serviceable and have ready access to commoditized fuel of varying types across many orbits.”

Ryan, whose nickname is Merlin, said DIU intends “to spearhead a meaningful demonstration of this capability — highlighting the need for interfaces and standards to be widely adopted across governments and industry so that refueling a spacecraft is as straightforward as filling your car at the pump here on Earth.”

The project has two parts aimed at two different objectives, the DIU solicitation says: “the ability to transfer fuel between disparate systems, and the ability to maneuver in order to provide access to the right fuel, at the right place and at the right time.”

A spokesperson told Breaking Defense that DIU — which is the Defense Department’s organization designed to speed emerging technology into the field — always aims to issue contracts within 60 to 90 days of receiving vendor responses.

Refueling Near GEO

For the first part of the effort, DIU is seeking to test out commercial providers that could fill up a satellite’s store of hydrazine (N2H4) rocket fuel using a “commercially available interface” that can be used with both commercial and government-owned spacecraft. The goal is to stage an on-orbit demonstration “within 18 to 24 months after contract award.”

Given DIU’s remit, it probably isn’t a surprise that a number of companies recently have debuted capabilities related to satellite servicing in GEO.

For example, Lockheed Martin just last week during the annual Space Foundation Space Symposium, made public its Mission Augmentation Port (MAP) interface standard based on the configuration of its own Augmentation System Port Interface (ASPIN).

RELATED: Lockheed Martin pushes USB-like universal plug-in for satellites

ASPIN provides both an electric and data interface as well as a docking mechanism that fits onto a host satellite. That interface would then allow the owner/operator to later contract for a servicing spacecraft to fly and mate upgraded payloads to the old sat on orbit, or even to switch out old for new ones with different missions. Paul Pelley, senior director of advanced programs at Lockheed Martin Space, told Breaking Defense that ASPIN is akin to a USB port on modern computers, allowing multiple types of devices and applications to be connected and uploaded.

NASA announced on March 3 that the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) spacecraft, being built by Maxar Technologies, had passed critical design review. “OSAM-1 will use a robotic arm and tools to grapple Landsat 7 and provide the Earth-observing satellite launched in 1999 with more fuel, a first-of-its-kind refueling demonstration by NASA,” the release explains. The mission is due to be launched “no earlier than 2025.”

Meanwhile, the White House on April 4 released a new strategy for supporting US companies moving into the field. The National Strategy for In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) has six goals, including: promoting research and development; prioritizing the expansion of on-orbit infrastructure; accelerating the emerging ISAM commercial industry; and promoting international cooperation.

Gas Stations In Space

Under the second part of the prototyping project, DIU is seeking companies with the “capability for bulk storage of liquid (>5,000 kg) and gaseous propellants on orbit,” including hydrazine, liquid oxygen and others. The solicitation asks for proposals to detail initial concepts of operations about “how government client vehicles can receive fuel from the depot.”

If also notes that the fuel hub must “support a passive interface on the clients. Information on this interface will be provided at a later date.”

DIU wants the chosen vendor to be able to undertake an on-orbit demo “within 24 to 30 months after contract award.”

Perhaps the most prominent entrant into the commercial fuel depot arena is Orbit Fab, which uses the not-so-subtle motto “Gas Stations in Space.” The 2018 startup has snagged direct investment from both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, as well as a number of venture capital funds.

Orbit Fab launched the first-ever fuel depot to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), taken up aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on June 30, 2021. The depot, called Tanker 001 Tenzing, stores the green propellant High-Test Peroxide (HTP) in a sun-synchronous orbit to refuel other spacecraft, according to the company’s website. CEO Dan Faber told Breaking Defense in January that the company plans to launch its first depot to GEO “by the end of the year.”

The company announced on March 14 that it had won a $12 million contract from AFWERX and SpaceWERX, the Air Force and Space Force innovation hubs, to integrate its Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI) — a sort of on-orbit refueling boom that enables any spacecraft to dock with Orbit Fab’s orbiting fuel tanks — with a variety of DoD spacecraft. “RAFTI has been selected as the primary refueling interface for multiple DoD on-orbit refueling missions,” the announcement said.

Further, under a contract announced Jan. 11, Japanese startup Astroscale’s American arm is outfitting its new Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI) Servicer spacecraft with RAFTI.  Astroscale intends to fly LEXI, designed to repair spacecraft, in 2026. NO DEMOS HAVE YET BEEN UNDERTAKEN

Astroscale’s primary goal is to pioneer space debris removal, successfully testing last August the viability of its small End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d). The company’s plans to actually capture a tiny cubesat simulating a piece of space junk last month were thwarted due to a problem with the ELSA-d’s thrusters.

Despite the inability to restart four of the spacecraft’s eight thrusters, Astroscale last week announced it intends to instead go ahead April 22 with a modified close-approach experiment. That demo will “validate the ability of the servicer’s low power radio sensor to detect and track the client.” After analyzing the data, the firm will decide whether to try for a capture at a later date.