Orbit Fab to offer orbital depot for refueling hydrazine fuel in satellites
Capitalism in space: Orbit Fab is now offering to launch for satellite customers an orbital hydrazine fuel depot, essentially a “gas station” in space, that can be used to refill that fuel on geosynchronous satellites.
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.
The company announced Aug. 30 its plans to start offering refueling services for GEO spacecraft using a depot and “fuel shuttle” spacecraft. That depot will also be able to support spacecraft such as servicing vehicles that can travel to the depot for “self-service” refueling.
At the $20 million price announced by Orbit Fab, the company would provide up to 100 kilograms of hydrazine. It’s the first time that the company has set a price for providing fuel, a move it says it made to help potential customers better understand the economics of refueling.
The depot would be placed in orbit slightly above that of geosynchronous satellites. A shuttle robot would dock with it, obtain the fuel, and then fly to a customer’s satellite, dock and refuel it. If that shuttle is built by Orbit Fab, the customer’s satellite will need the company’s standard refueling port. For geosynchronous satellites without that port, Orbit Fab is willing to partner with other orbital refueling and satellite servicing spacecraft, such as Northrop Grumman’s and Astroscale’s repair robot satellites.
This plan has several firsts. It is the first to offer a price for a specific amount of fuel. It also appears to be the first to refuel the hydrazine in satellites. Finally, it illustrates the on-going compartmentalization of the satellite servicing industry. Some companies are making tugs. Some are launching repair robots. Others are making robots to remove space junk. And Orbit Fab is going to build fuel stations where everyone else can get fuel.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: Orbit Fab is now offering to launch for satellite customers an orbital hydrazine fuel depot, essentially a “gas station” in space, that can be used to refill that fuel on geosynchronous satellites.
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.
The company announced Aug. 30 its plans to start offering refueling services for GEO spacecraft using a depot and “fuel shuttle” spacecraft. That depot will also be able to support spacecraft such as servicing vehicles that can travel to the depot for “self-service” refueling.
At the $20 million price announced by Orbit Fab, the company would provide up to 100 kilograms of hydrazine. It’s the first time that the company has set a price for providing fuel, a move it says it made to help potential customers better understand the economics of refueling.
The depot would be placed in orbit slightly above that of geosynchronous satellites. A shuttle robot would dock with it, obtain the fuel, and then fly to a customer’s satellite, dock and refuel it. If that shuttle is built by Orbit Fab, the customer’s satellite will need the company’s standard refueling port. For geosynchronous satellites without that port, Orbit Fab is willing to partner with other orbital refueling and satellite servicing spacecraft, such as Northrop Grumman’s and Astroscale’s repair robot satellites.
This plan has several firsts. It is the first to offer a price for a specific amount of fuel. It also appears to be the first to refuel the hydrazine in satellites. Finally, it illustrates the on-going compartmentalization of the satellite servicing industry. Some companies are making tugs. Some are launching repair robots. Others are making robots to remove space junk. And Orbit Fab is going to build fuel stations where everyone else can get fuel.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
If the interweb is to be believed, hydrazine retails for $200-300 per kilogram, delivered, terrestrially.
I am so happy to witness commerce moving into the solar system.
To the Future!
Delithum Cracking Stations are Automated and fond on remote planets like Delta Vega on the other side of the Galactic Barrier