A GPS satellite orbits Earth in this image released by the 50th Space Wing in 2013. (U.S. Space Force)
Space tankers being developed by a Denver-based tech company could soon keep U.S. military satellites in orbit longer.
The Space Force awarded a $25.5 million contract last month to Astroscale U.S. Inc. to develop and deliver an in-orbit refueler by 2026, the service announced in a Sept. 19 news release. The firm is a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Astroscale Holdings Inc., a private orbital debris removal company.
“Our primary goal with establishing a refueling capability is to enable Dynamic Space Operations to support our Combatant Commanders,” Col. Joyce Bulson, the Space Force’s lead for space mobility and logistics, told Stars and Stripes in a recent email.
Satellite operations have been limited for the past 60 years due to the requirement that they launch with a “lifetime” fuel supply, according to the Space Force release.
This impacts the size, weight and cost of satellites and launch vehicles, the service said. It also reduces payloads and forces tradeoffs between in-orbit operations and mission life.
“A satellite has a useful lifetime of between five and 15 years depending on the satellite,” Allan McInnes, a lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, told Science Learning Hub in 2013. “It’s hard to design them to last much longer than that, either because the solar arrays stop working or because they run out of fuel to allow them to maintain the orbit that they’re supposed to be in.”
Air Force tankers, flying since the 1950s, carry enlisted crew who operate a boom that extends to refuel aircraft in flight. There won’t be any guardians flying the space tankers, but that may change in the future, Bulson wrote.
“In the near term, the U.S. Space Force intends to buy commercial services for refueling, so no refueling-specific career fields are anticipated at this time,” she said. “The three Space Force field commands are exploring what type of roles, responsibilities, authorities, and training are necessary for spacecraft operators when refueling or other servicing functions are being performed, in both peacetime and conflict.”
Astroscale is contracted to build a prototype space tanker within 26 months, according to the Space Force release.
The company has yet to release information about what the space tanker will look like.
“We will be sharing details on the refueling servicer in the near future,” Astroscale spokesman Dave Herbert told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
