Astroscale has signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to refuel its service satellites in space using Orbit Fab’s gas stations. LEXI satellites, or Life Extension In-orbit, will be the first commercial satellites in history to be built with the ability to refuel in space. Under the agreement, Orbit Pub’s fuel tank satellites to be placed in orbit will provide Astroscale’s LEXI satellite fleet with about 1,000 kilograms of xenon, which will extend the life of service satellites – whose job is to extend the life of other satellites.
As a rule, satellites need fuel to correct the deviation from the orbit in which they orbit the Earth. However, there is a limit to the amount of fuel a satellite can carry so most satellites go out of use after an average of 15 years – then new launchers to replace them. Since the average cost of building and launching a new satellite is $ 200 million, if the normal satellite orbit could be repaired, a great deal of money could be saved. In fact, as part of the new space revolution we are seeing more and more launches of satellites – thus creating a new market of service satellites designed to extend their life in orbit. It is estimated that the new market will roll in no less than $ 7 billion by the end of the current decade.
How to refuel a satellite in space. The collaboration of Astroscale and Orbit Pub to extend satellite life.
$ 7 billion market by 2030
In 2020, Astroscale acquired the Israeli startup Effective Spice, one of the world pioneers in the development of service satellites, which was also supported by the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, in what has been called “the first exit in space.” Today, Astroscale Israel continues to develop a service satellite called Spice Dron, which is designed to connect and serve communications satellites in a geosynchronous orbit (GEO, at an altitude of about 27,000 km above sea level). At the same time, Global Astroscale is developing LEXI Low (LEO, at a height of several hundred km above sea level), correct their trajectory and thus prolong their life.
Either way, even service satellites designed to tow old satellites need extra fuel to keep running. The agreement signed with Orbit Pub is intended to provide Astroscale’s LEXI satellite fleet with approximately 1,000 kg of xenon – thus significantly increasing the range and scope of activity of the service satellites.
“Refueling using one of the refueling satellites Orbit Pub can even double the amount of work that each of our satellites can do,” explains Astroscale CEO Israel Arie Helzband. It should be understood that the ability to refuel in orbit alters this whole issue of space service, and for the first time disconnects the amount of service that can be given from the initial amount of fuel that can be carried in a launch. The agreement with Orbit Pub will allow us to manage our service satellite fleet with much greater flexibility. “
Moreover, the lesbian explains that refueling will allow Astroscale service satellites to handle heavier satellites as well. “We extend life by physical towing, and that of course requires fuel. This fuel is a derivative of the weight of the satellite we are towing and adding speed to it. If there is a customer with a very heavy satellite, we can now serve it without this one mission running out of all our fuel.
The first LEXI satellite will reach a geosynchronous orbit in 2026, and provide life extension services for satellites of private and government operators. The LEXI satellite fleet will offer orbital guarding and control, navigation repairs, repositioning, as well as towing faulty satellites for atmospheric fire or crash in the “spaceship cemetery” – a point in the Pacific Ocean far from any locality and used to crush large vessels that do not burn in the atmosphere.
While Orbit Pub plans to deploy dozens of fuel tanks and refueling satellites in the next decade, both in low-satellite orbit and geosynchronous orbit. The first two “refueling satellites” are expected to be launched in 2023.