https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/darpa-to-build-satellite-repair-robot/ Mon, 28 Mar 2016 06:58:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/darpa-to-build-satellite-repair-robot/#comment-869955 Mon, 28 Mar 2016 06:58:27 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=38439#comment-869955 Pushing failed satellites into a graveyard orbit should be an attractive purpose for an Solar electric ion propelled towing satellite in GEO. Given that there are some “property” laws which require satellites to clear the area when they malfunction or within a certain maximum time or to make place for the highest bidder or however.

]]> https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/darpa-to-build-satellite-repair-robot/#comment-869951 Mon, 28 Mar 2016 06:54:05 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=38439#comment-869951 Satellites need to be standardized to be repaired. The Air Force is probably large enough to create their own standards, hopefully to be followed by others. But then there’s the problem with orbits. Spy satellites use low orbits with high inclinations. It is expensive to move between such orbits. GPS satellites are also out of the market because they have very different inclinations. The market is in geostationary orbit and private companies. A third problem is that the economic lifetime of a satellite might be much shorter than its technical lifetime. It will often be more profitable to launch a new satellite with the latest technology and higher capacity, than to repair or refuel an old one. It is so much cheaper and less risky to launch the extra fuel together with the satellite to begin with, than equipping it for refueling and then launching extra fuel separately and docking and so many things could go wrong.

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