In the coming years, the Space Development Agency plans to launch hundreds of satellites to low Earth orbit to track missiles and support targeting missions. But what happens when those spacecraft, each built to last about five years, are no longer operational?
The satellites are designed to comply with U.S. government standards that require operators to remove spacecraft once their missions have ended. But SDA wants to have a backup plan and this week brought on six companies to study commercial options for dealing with defunct satellites in a sustainable way.
“SDA believes industry has concepts and business models to support commercial on-orbit servicing, to include assisted disposal operations, but that no such product or service yet exists,” the agency said in a statement Thursday.
SDA chose Arkisys, Impulse Space, Quantum Space, Sierra Space, SpaceWorks Enterprises and Starfish Space, awarding them a total of $1.9 million to study the issue. The firms will conduct 90-day feasibility assessments, considering the technical trades and engineering requirements for on-demand satellite de-orbit services.
The companies are all developing solutions for debris removal. For example, Maryland-based Quantum Space is designing a platform called Ranger that, among other services, can move a satellite to an inactive orbit. Arkisys, based in California, is building a commercial “port,” which it envisions as a space-based business platform to build satellites in orbit. The port, the firm says, could host orbital transfer vehicles used to de-orbit or dispose of inactive satellites.
SDA Director Derek Tournear said in March that while a commercial service designed to deal with defunct satellites isn’t available today, SDA is interested in the prospect and wants to better understand the business models these companies are proposing.
Not only could the capability serve as a tow service for SDA, but it could allow the agency to shift to lower-cost designs for its satellites and eliminate requirements for certain backup systems that take up space and increase a spacecraft’s weight.
“I want to be able to take more risks on my satellite, not have redundant propulsion, things like that,” Tournear said. “There’s several companies that are working on that, and I hope they’re successful.”
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
