Orbit Fab, founded in 2018 and based in Colorado, has already installed the first-ever fuel depot in space.
The conquest of space is no longer the prerogative of nations. Many private companies are embarking on the adventure thanks to technological progress and the lowering of costs that they entail. So much so that a company proposes to create service stations in space to supply fuel to the many satellites in orbit.
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The idea was born at Orbit Fab, a start-up founded in 2018 and based in Colorado. And its advances are sufficiently convincing for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, two aeronautical giants, to have both decided to invest in the same company, which had never happened. It must be said that Orbit Lab’s CV is quite nice: it was the first company to deliver water to the international space station and the Space Force, the space army created by Donald Trump, is part of of its first customers. Orbit Fab must indeed fuel geostationary military satellites from 2025: this is a contract that amplifies the credibility of the startup on the market, says Jeremy Schiel, one of the co-founders of the company.
Concretely, Orbit Fab therefore offers a full 100 kilos of hydrazine, the fuel used by rockets and satellites, for 20 million dollars. If, on paper, it is quite simple, obviously in space, it is more complicated. But the principle consists in installing a network in space of fuel depots where satellites can come to feed themselves, but also small shuttles which go directly to the satellite-client. All these satellites must be equipped with a RAFTI, a rapidly attachable fluid transfer interface. This is a small valve, specially created by Orbit Fab, which connects to the “pump”.
Proof that this is not science fiction: the start-up has also developed the Tenzing, the very first operational fuel depot in space. It was dropped into space by a Space X Falcon 9 rocket in the summer of 2021.
And the idea is just as visionary as it is financially juicy. 200 satellites had to be destroyed in the last 10 years because they ran dry, according to Orbit Fab. Sometimes the satellite has to move through space, avoiding debris. It burns fuel to get there, which reduces its lifespan. What Orbit Fab offers is to extend this lifespan. Yes, $20 million for a full tank is a lot of money, but it still costs less than sending in another satellite to replace it or sending out a huge satellite just to fill it with as much fuel as possible.
The start-up considers that a network of service stations in space will open the door to the development of a broader activity in orbit. Including human activity. Jeremy Schiel, the co-founder, compares the situation to a trip from New York to Los Angeles by car: without a gas station on the way, it is difficult to go very far, or else you will have to abandon your vehicle and find another one.