Orbit Fab

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.

Orbit Fab, a startup developing infrastructure for in-space refueling of spacecraft, will start offering hydrazine for satellites in geostationary orbit as soon as 2025 at a price of $20 million.

In October 2022 won a $13.3 million government contract to provide fuel for US Space Force satellites — another step toward what the company hopes will become a network of gas stations in outer space.

Orbit Fab, the Gas Stations in Space™ refueling service provider, and Astroscale U.S. Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc., have signed a commercial agreement to refuel Astroscale’s Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI™) Servicer in GEO; LEXI is the first satellite designed to be refueled. Under the terms of this initial agreement, Orbit Fab’s GEO fuel shuttle will resupply Astroscale’s fleet of LEXI Servicers with up to 1,000 kilograms of Xenon propellant. With this purchase, Astroscale has greatly expanded LEXI’s scope and flexibility to perform on-orbit servicing missions — a benefit for every customer. Astroscale’s LEXI spacecraft is slated to launch to GEO by 2026, where it will perform life extension services for commercial operators, the U.S government and partner governments around the world. LEXI’s key services for customers include station keeping and attitude control, momentum management, inclination correction, GEO relocation and retirement to graveyard orbit.

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

In July 2022, Orbit Fab, the Gas Stations In Space™ company creating an in-space propellant supply chain, and Breaking Ground Trust, a lunar resources perpetual purpose trust, announced the signing of a letter of intent for a regolith donation. Under the terms of this agreement, Orbit Fab intends to purchase a lunar sample from a third party and donate it to Breaking Ground to hold it in trust.

News

Orbit Fab has three launches set for 2025 to deliver fuel for U.S. government customers (SpaceNews, 2023-12-05).

Link

Sources

Most sources should be linked in the texts and headings as revealed by mouse-over, but here are they listed for visibility.

[1] https://www.orbitfab.space/

[2] https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4995&context=smallsat

News, Research, Projects and Patents

Title	Type	Date	Summary
Orbit Fab, AFRL Sign R&D Agreement	News	2021-10-15
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.
JUST IN: Space Companies Scoring Contracts to Extend Lives of Satellites (UPDATED)	News	2022-03-21
Space In-Orbit Refueling Market to Reach $1.09 Billion by 2032	Market Report	2022-09-01
Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems to partner on in-space refueling technologies	News	2021-02-23
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
Orbit Fab’s First Operational Gas Station In Space To Launch In 2021	News	2020-10-16
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.
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
Deep Space Gas Stations Prepare for In-Space Market	News	2019-04-15
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

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