In the coming years, the Space Development Agency (SDA) plans to launch hundreds of satellites to low Earth orbit to track missiles and support targeting missions. The satellites are designed to comply with U.S. government standards that require operators to remove spacecraft once their missions have ended. However, SDA wants to have a backup plan and has brought on six companies to study commercial options for dealing with defunct satellites in a sustainable way. These companies include Arkisys, Impulse Space, Quantum Space, Sierra Space, SpaceWorks Enterprises, and Starfish Space, which were awarded a total of $1.9 million to study the issue.
SDA believes that the industry has concepts and business models to support commercial on-orbit servicing, including assisted disposal operations. The selected firms will conduct 90-day feasibility assessments to consider technical trades and engineering requirements for on-demand satellite de-orbit services. These companies are all developing solutions for debris removal, such as Quantum Space designing a platform called Ranger and Arkisys building a commercial “port.”
SDA Director Derek Tournear expressed interest in the potential for commercial services dealing with defunct satellites. This capability could serve as a tow service for SDA and allow the agency to shift to lower-cost satellite designs by eliminating requirements for certain backup systems. Tournear hopes that the companies studying this issue will be successful in their endeavors.
