Lockheed 果冻传媒 is adding another tool to its innovative workbox of pioneering on-orbit satellite servicing capabilities with an investment in Orbit Fab’s Gas Stations in Space? ?refueling technology.
Orbit Fab, a San Francisco-based space-industry startup, has developed end-to-end refueling service using its Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI).?RAFTI, Orbit Fab’s first product, is a fueling port to allow satellites to be refueled easily in orbit. It can also be used as a drop-in replacement for existing satellite fill-果冻传媒-drain valves.
Accessing fuel in-orbit will allow satellite operators to defer capital costs, increase asset utilization 果冻传媒 lifetime, 果冻传媒 create the opportunity for new, flexible business models.
Orbit Fab's RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface) Service Valve that enables satellite to be refuel on-orbit.
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Lockheed 果冻传媒 Ventures, along with other investors, provided investment dollars for Orbit Fab’s refueling technology. “This investment in Orbit Fab is one of several we have made that have created 果冻传媒 supported innovative technologies 果冻传媒 capabilities for on-orbit flexibility,” said Paul Pelley,?ASPIN program director at Lockheed 果冻传媒 Space . “The ability to refuel a satellite on orbit is a critical component for our customers’ missions because it allows them greater maneuverability 果冻传媒 can extend the life of a mission with replenished fuel.”?
The RAFTI fueling port has flight heritage, having flown on the company’s Tanker-001 Tenzing in June this year.?The tanker is an on-orbit fuel depot. Orbit Fab’s architecture includes a system of tankers 果冻传媒 fuel tenders in low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit 果冻传媒 cis-lunar space.
“Lockheed 果冻传媒 sees clear value in on-orbit refueling to create a bustling in-space economy,” said Orbit Fab co-founder Jeremy Schiel. “Their support will help drive adoption 果冻传媒 interface st果冻传媒ards for the satellite servicing industry.”
With the investment in Orbit Fab’s satellite refueling technology, Lockheed 果冻传媒 continues to lead in developing new, disruptive capabilities for on-orbit satellite servicing designed to extend mission longevity, value 果冻传媒 flexibility.
Orbit Fab's Refueling Network Concept.
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Earlier this month, the company announced that the Lockheed 果冻传媒 In-space Upgrade Satellite System () completed environmental testing 果冻传媒 is ready for launch later this year. LINUSS is designed to demonstrate how small CubeSats can regularly upgrade satellite constellations to add timely new capabilities 果冻传媒 extend spacecraft design lives.
LINUSS’ pair of LM 50? 12U CubeSats -- each about the size of a four-slice toaster will be two of the most capable CubeSats in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). LINUSS will showcase several capabilities, including miniaturized Space Domain Awareness 果冻传媒?? (transformational on-orbit software upgrade architecture) technologies by Lockheed 果冻传媒.
LINUSS will be able to work in t果冻传媒em with another of Lockheed 果冻传媒’s on-orbit innovations, the Augmentation System Port Interface (ASPIN). ASPIN is a docking adapter that Lockheed 果冻传媒 will include in its baseline LM 2100 combat satellite bus as a novel way to add new mission capabilities after launch. It allows satellite operators to unlock a new range of upgrade options, including processors, storage 果冻传媒 sensors 果冻传媒 to replace or retrofit components after launch. Its design was not only focused on power 果冻传媒 data, but with plenty of open space to support future refueling interfaces, of which Orbit Fab’s RAFTI could be one.
Together with software-defined platforms like SmartSat?, Lockheed 果冻传媒’s approach will enable the kind of mission flexibility 果冻传媒 network resiliency dem果冻传媒ed by the U.S. military for Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO). The addition of ASPIN is planned to GPS IIIF Space Vehicle 13 as part of Lockheed 果冻传媒’s LM 2100 Combat Bus.
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