All articles tagged with #satellite servicing
NASA is coordinating a private rescue mission to save the aging Swift Observatory from orbital decay by launching the LINK spacecraft on a Pegasus XL rocket to grapple Swift and raise its orbit back toward its original ~600 km altitude, extending its science life by years. The mission, which costs about $30 million, marks a pioneering private satellite‑servicing effort for a U.S. government asset.
NASA is launching a $30 million rescue mission using Katalyst Space Technologies’ autonomous three-armed Link to rendezvous with the Swift Observatory and move it from about 360 km to 600 km, delaying its reentry after solar activity accelerated orbital decay; the operation could start this week from the Marshall Islands, with Swift potentially back online by September if successful, and the effort could pave the way for future in-space satellite servicing.
NASA, with Katalyst Space and Northrop Grumman, plans a June 30 launch from Kwajalein Atoll to deploy the robotic LINK servicer on a Pegasus XL rocket to grapple and gradually raise the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's orbit, extending its life and proving on-orbit servicing capabilities for future missions.
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory—launched in 2004 and now tumbling in low Earth orbit due to solar-driven drag—could be saved by LINK, a seven‑month-built robotic spacecraft from Katalyst Space Technologies that would capture Swift and raise its orbit using a Pegasus XL launch; if successful, it would mark the first commercial in‑space servicing of a government satellite, otherwise the observatory could reenter uncontrolled.
The U.S. Space Force, via Space Systems Command and SpaceWERX, is exploring the design and viability of orbital warehouses to store fuel and supplies for servicing satellites, with plans for two on‑orbit demonstrations in 2027 to test in‑space logistics, propulsion, and depot operations. Highlighted efforts include Starfish Space’s US‑Otter 1 rendezvous/docking and Astroscale’s Provisioner refueler, all part of accelerating in‑space servicing and enabling rapid responses to space threats under the Objective Force 2040 roadmap.
NASA is funding a fast-paced, private mission by Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link to rendezvous with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in low Earth orbit and raise its altitude to counter atmospheric drag. Swift, launched in 2004 to detect gamma-ray bursts, is still operational but decaying in orbit, and weekly trajectory predictions will guide Link’s maneuvers. The goal is to keep Swift around 185 miles (about 300 km) above Earth into early fall, with a $30 million contract and a June Pegasus rocket launch planned. Success depends on precise tracking amid space weather, but if all goes well Swift could be boosted back to a more favorable orbit rather than deorbiting.
DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program is moving toward its first flight, featuring a dexterous on‑orbit servicing suite and a Mission Robotic Vehicle to refuel, inspect, upgrade, and relocate GEO satellites. The effort involves NASA and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, with SpaceLogistics’ vehicle backing the mission; launch could occur as soon as this summer, followed by ~10 months to GEO and first operations in 2027, signaling a shift toward sustainable, upgradable space assets amid a growing servicing sector.
NASA is racing to rescue the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory by docking a private servicing spacecraft, Link, and boosting its orbit before atmospheric drag ends the mission; Link has completed environmental testing at Goddard Space Flight Center. The plan hinges on a quick Pegasus XL launch to reach Swift in a time-sensitive operation that could extend the telescope’s science life and demonstrate rapid, commercial satellite servicing.
Aging NASA observatory Swift is losing altitude, triggering a high-stakes, privately led effort to intercept and dock with the spacecraft in orbit to extend its life; if successful, the mission could redefine satellite servicing and maintenance in space while proceeding on a tight, months-long timeline with a modest $30 million budget.
Starfish Space won a $52.5 million contract from the Space Development Agency to provide deorbiting as a service for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, planning to launch its Otter space tug in 2027 to dock with a non-deorbit-ready PWSA satellite, push it to a lower orbit, and release it for faster reentry, with options to deorbit additional spacecraft; the award signals growing maturity of the satellite-servicing market and complements Starfish’s existing backlog with NASA, the Space Force, and Intelsat/SES.
China's Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 satellites are maneuvering in geostationary orbit for a rendezvous and docking, likely to demonstrate on-orbit refueling capabilities, amid nearby U.S. surveillance satellites, highlighting advancements in satellite servicing and strategic space activities.
Orbit Fab has qualified its RAFTI satellite refueling port after subjecting it to rigorous tests simulating space conditions, and has revealed a price tag of $30,000 per unit. The company plans to deliver the first 100 units to U.S. government and commercial customers over the next year. The RAFTI port is expected to be used on Space Force Tetra-5 satellites in 2025 and Astroscale's LEXI spacecraft in 2026, marking a significant step in the development of satellite refueling technology.
NASA cancels the OSAM-1 mission, a multibillion-dollar project aimed at demonstrating robotic satellite servicing technology, due to continued technical, cost, and schedule challenges. The mission's cost has ballooned to $1.5 billion, with projections of nearly $1 billion more needed for launch. Originally planned for a 2020 launch, the mission faced delays and cost increases, and the addition of the Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER) further complicated matters. The realities of the satellite servicing market have also shifted, with commercial companies focusing on alternative methods for extending satellite life, leading to NASA's decision to cancel the project.
NASA has decided to end its OSAM-1 mission, which aimed to refuel and service working satellites, due to cost and technical challenges. The project, which aimed to rendezvous with and refuel the Landsat-7 satellite, faced delays and increased costs, with the estimated budget exceeding $2 billion. The decision comes after workforce cuts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the agency is now reviewing how to mitigate the impact of the cancellation. NASA cited a broader shift in the space community away from refueling unprepared spacecraft and pointed to operational servicing vehicles like SpaceLogistics' Mission Extension Vehicle as an alternative approach.
NASA has canceled the multibillion-dollar OSAM-1 mission due to technical, cost, and schedule challenges, as well as a shift in the industry away from refueling unprepared spacecraft. The project, which aimed to demonstrate satellite servicing technologies, had suffered extensive delays and cost overruns, with the total cost growing to $2.05 billion and the launch delayed to December 2026. The cancellation will involve an orderly shutdown, including transferring hardware and mitigating the impact on the workforce at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The decision comes as commercial satellite servicing technologies are being pursued, with a shift towards more cooperative approaches.