Company - Orbit Fab
Product/Service - Fuel Shuttle
- Classification
- In-Space Transportation
- Category
- Propellant Refilling
Propellant Refuel Station
Hardware
- Fields
- Refilling Station
- Status
- Development, Launched
- First launch
- 2018
Gas Stations in Space
First operational fuel depot to orbit, Tanker 001 Tenzing, which will provide fuel for the fast growing in-orbit servicing industry, is expected to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than in June 2021.
Our refueling service architecture consists of depots in various orbits, and shuttles that will deliver fuel from those depots to client spacecraft.
Client spacecraft, such as Astroscale's LEXI™, are equipped with our RAFTI service valve.
WE’VE RACKED UP A NUMBER OF WORLD-FIRSTS
- First-ever commercially available in-space fueling port (branded RAFTI™)
- First-ever propellant depot operating in Low Earth Orbit, Tanker-001 Tenzing. 6 months from concept to hardware handover.
- First private company to resupply the International Space Station with water. Accomplished within a year of founding, and meeting NASA’s strict guidelines for crew-rated systems.
- Astroscale's LEXI spacecraft, the world's first operational, commercial satellite designed to be refueled, will be equipped with the RAFTI interface.
- First company to have investments from both Lockheed Martin Ventures and Northrop Grumman.
Regolith Donation
News
- Selected by U.S. Air Force to develop an in-space xenon pumping system, which is a key technology for servicing satellites and spacecraft on orbit.
- Orbit Fab Announces $12 million AFWERX STRATFI Program.
- Orbit Fab said in October 2022 that 8090 Industries was a “new major investor” in the company, but did not disclose the size of the investment. The company had previously raised a total of $17 million, including more than $10 million in a September 2021 round that included Lockheed Martin Ventures and Northrop Grumman.
- Orbit Fab selects Impulse Space’s orbital vehicle for in-space refueling demo. Orbit Fab will seek to refuel the U.S. Space Force Tetra-5 spacecraft with up to 50 kilograms of hydrazine. The demonstration, planned for 2025, was funded by the Space Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (SpaceNews, 2023-05-25).
- Orbit Fab and Australia’s Space Machines Company cooperate on in-orbit servicing (SpaceNews, 2023-12-05).
- Orbit Fab and ispace to collaborate on lunar propellant harvesting and delivery (SpaceNews, 2023-12-11).
- SMC is the first non-U.S. customer to use Orbit Fab’s fiducial alignment markers. The markers are painted on SMC’s Optimus Orbital Servicing Vehicle, which is set to launch in early 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare flight.
- Orbit Fab’s fiducial markers are designed to act like a QR code, ensuring, for example, that a fuel shuttle replenishes the correct client. The fiducial markers also ensure proper spacecraft alignment for docking.
- Orbit Fab has three launches set for 2025 to deliver fuel for U.S. government customers. In one of the demonstration missions, Orbit Fab plans to supply the U.S. Space Force Tetra-5 spacecraft with hydrazine.
- Orbit Fab and ClearSpace to develop in-space refueling service, SpaceNews, 2024-01-24.
- Satellites could become more sustainable, thanks to new UK Space Agency funding, 2024-02-09
- Contracts have been awarded to Astroscale, ClearSpace and Orbit Fab for refuelling research:
- Orbit Fab will leverage their unique Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface (RAFTI™) and the Grappling and Resupply Active Solution for Propellants (GRASP) to develop the ‘RAFTEA’ mission, partnering with MDA, ClearSpace, D-Orbit, and BryceTech.
- Orbit Fab reveals price tag for its satellite refueling ports, SpaceNews, 2024-03-19.
- RAFTI, short for Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface, is a docking interface that allows satellites to receive propellant from external sources while on the ground or in orbit.
- The company said its RAFTI refueling port has been flight qualified and is commercially available at $30,000 per unit.
- Clearing these tests paves the way for Orbit Fab to deliver the first 100 RAFTI units to U.S. government and commercial customers over the next year.
- Orbit Fab will leverage their unique Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface (RAFTI™) and the Grappling and Resupply Active Solution for Propellants (GRASP) to develop the ‘RAFTEA’ mission, partnering with MDA, ClearSpace, D-Orbit, and BryceTech.
- Orbit Fab landed a €750,000 ($870,000) ESA contract—as part of the agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program—to work with telecom operators in GEO to integrate xenon refueling technology, 2025-07-16.
- The company also unveiled its next demo mission, which will build flight heritage for the new high-pressure variant of Orbit Fab UK’s RAFTI refueling hardware supporting xenon fuel, 2025-07-16.
GRIP
Status Comment
Orbit Fab has three launches set for 2025 to deliver fuel for U.S. government customers (SpaceNews, 2023-12-05).
Notes
- Technical Publications
- One of 6 companies accepted to to the Space Resources Accelerator of Luxembourg's The European Space Resources Innovation Center (ESRIC), 2024-12-04.
- Orbit Fab: Refueling Satellites With Space Gas Stations, 2025-04-02.
- Tetra-5 will utilize Orbit Fab's Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI), 2025-04-02.
Sources
Most sources should be linked in the texts and headings as revealed by mouse-over, but here are they listed for visibility.
News, Research, Projects and Patents
| Title | Type | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fill ’er up | Article | 2022-09-01 | > The push to expand Earth’s economy into space has prompted NASA to pump millions of dollars into the old idea of establishing propellant depots in Earth orbit for satellites or passenger transports and cargo tugs headed for deep space. Jon Kelvey looks at the reasons for the renewed interest — and the hurdles ahead. |
| Space In-Orbit Refueling Market to Reach $1.09 Billion by 2032 | Market Report | 2022-09-01 | |
| JUST IN: Space Companies Scoring Contracts to Extend Lives of Satellites (UPDATED) | News | 2022-03-21 | |
| Orbit Fab, AFRL Sign R&D Agreement | News | 2021-10-15 | |
| Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems to partner on in-space refueling technologies | News | 2021-02-23 | |
| Orbit Fab Selected by U.S. Air Force to Develop In-space Xenon Pumping System, Key for On-orbit Satellite Servicing Ecosystem | News, Project | 2020-12-19 | > Orbit Fab builds and operates gas stations in space and has proven its in-space fluid transfer system as the first private company to resupply the International Space Station with water. Its Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI) has been adopted by multiple spacecraft manufacturers and is quickly becoming the industry’s common refueling interface. It was developed in cooperation with 30 companies and organizations, and is intended to be a drop-in replacement for existing satellite fill and drain valves as it is equivalent in size, mass and cost. |
| Orbit Fab’s First Operational Gas Station In Space To Launch In 2021 | News | 2020-11-16 | |
| Orbit Fab’s First Operational Gas Station In Space To Launch In 2021 | News | 2020-10-16 | |
| Orbit Fab Selected by U.S. Air Force to Develop In-space Xenon Pumping System, Key for On-orbit Satellite Servicing Ecosystem | Project | 2020-08-12 | |
| Orbit Fab gets award to test satellite refueling technology | News | 2020-03-31 | > Orbit Fab, which previously tested refueling technology on the ISS, has won an NSF award to test a cooperating docking system needed for in-space satellite refueling |
| Business Case for Innovative Commercial In-Orbit Satellite/Debris Removal (1 of 6) | Whitepaper, Study | 2019-08-30 | > Whenever a satellite launches into space, propellant typically makes up half of the launch mass. Orbit Fab is developing the technologies and infrastructure to facilitate propellant supplies and the necessary logistics for refueling in space, with the goal of significant cost reduction among other benefits. |
| Deep Space Gas Stations Prepare for In-Space Market | News | 2019-04-15 |
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