INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
On-orbit satellite refueling technology is closer than ever to a practical reality, which could help immensely with the cost and
sustainability of orbital businesses
Startup OrbitFab, a 2019 A Technology News Room Battlefield finalist, is one of the companies working to make orbital refueling a reality,
further its goals.The contract is specifically for development of a solution that provides rendezvous and docking capabilities in space,
managing the end-to-end process of connecting two spacecraft and transferring fuel from one to the other
OrbitFab last October at Disrupt unveiled its connector hardware for making this possible, which it now refers to as its Rapidly Attachable
Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI)
RAFTI is designed as a replacement for existing valves used in satellites for fueling and draining propellant from spacecraft, but would
seek to establish a new standard that provides easy interoperability both with ground fueling and with in-space refueling (or fuel transfer
(ISS), and last year it became the first-ever private company to supply the orbital lab with water
facilitates in its own test facilities this summer.Longer-term, this is just phase one of a multi-par funding agreement with the NSF
Phase one includes $250,000 to make that first demo, and then ultimately that will lead to an inaugural trial of a fuel sale operation in
satellite, in a low LEO [low Earth orbit] docking, exchanging fuel, and decoupling, and repeating this process as many times as we can
refueling, and some of the largest companies in the industry are working on the challenge
range of satellites large and small, from a range of companies
comes to launch costs, with on-orbit roving gas stations addressing demand for spacecraft once they reach space, and paying a price for
