NASA tests orbital fuel depots with LOXSAT for Moon and Mars missions

NASA will launch the Liquid Oxygen Flight Demonstration (LOXSAT) to test storing and transferring super-cooled cryogenic propellants in microgravity, a key step toward on-orbit fueling depots that could support Artemis lunar missions and future crewed missions to Mars. LOXSAT, aboard Rocket Lab's Photon bus, aims to operate in low Earth orbit for about nine months, testing 11 fluid-management components and gathering data to mature the technology with Eta Space and NASA centers (Marshall Space Flight Center, Glenn Research Center, and Kennedy Space Center) under the Cryogenic Fluid Management program.