Orbit Fab aims to build network of gas stations in outer space
(Bloomberg) — Orbit Fab Inc., a Denver-area startup backed by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., won a $13.3 million government contract to provide fuel for US Space Force satellites — another step toward what the company hopes will become a network of gas stations in outer space.
The four-year contract calls for Orbit Fab to deliver hydrazine, the most common satellite propellant, to a Space Force satellite in 2025, the company said Tuesday. A typical satellite uses 10 kilograms of hydrazine per year to stay in a geosynchronous orbit but requires more of the fuel to move in space. The ability to refuel will allow military satellites to maneuver around the growing field of debris in orbit.
Closely held Orbit Fab tested its first fuel depot in a low Earth orbit in June 2021 and has since landed a pair of other satellite-refueling contracts. Co-founder and Chief Development Officer Jeremy Schiel said in an interview that the company plans to open a network of fuel depots that will allow for mining and manufacturing operations in space. The global in-orbit refueling market is projected to reach almost $1.1 billion by 2032, a study from BIS Research shows.
“As NASA goes to the Moon and Elon Musk goes to Mars, we want to establish the orbital highway where we place our depots in key orbits to allow the commercial industry and government agencies to keep expanding the human footprint into our solar system,” Schiel said.
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