INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
International Space Station with water, a first for any private company
equipment Orbit Fab developed itself.The key ingredient here, per ISS United States National Laboratory COO Kenneth Shields, which was the
designed to work on the ISS
By creating and successfully demonstrating a system that the ISS designers never conceived, Orbit Fab has shown that both private companies
and NASA have the flexibility needed to build business models on existing space infrastructure.The technology Orbit Fab developed and
demonstrated has broader applications than just moving water around in space
could extend to other common propellants, and make it possible to refuel satellites in orbit
Orbit Fab is working toward establishing standards for satellite refueling interfaces to be used in orbital hardware, which could go a long
way toward making it common practice to develop reusable satellites, instead of sticking with the more or less disposable hardware model
used today.Startups like Orbit Fab are the key to unlocking true commercialization of space, by identifying points in the value chain where
innovation or improvement can lead to cost or resource efficiencies and ensure that space business is actually also viable business, in
terms of profit potential.
