Over Budget Restore-L Mission 3.5 Years From Launch
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
NASA’s $1 billion Restore-L mission to refuel the aging Landsat 7 satellite is running about $300 million over budget and almost three years behind schedule, according to a new assessment by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The project’s woes have included a shortage of both funding and skilled personnel as well as the addition of a new instrument with immature technology to the satellite servicing spacecraft.
In April 2017, NASA estimated Restore-L could be ready for launch between June and December 2020. The program is currently working toward a launch in December 2023.
“The reasons are twofold. First, the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) proposed budget for the past 2 years has not allowed the project to work to its original funding plan,” the assessment said.
“Second, STMD directed the project to add a new payload—known as the SPace Infrastructure DExterous Robot (SPIDER)— in April 2019. The new payload intends to demonstrate on-orbit assembly and installation of an antenna,” the report added.
“The Restore-L project has six remaining technologies that it needs to mature. Prior to adding the SPIDER payload in 2019, the project had one remaining technology—the vision navigation system—that it needed to mature,” GAO said.
NASA’s original cost estimate for Restore-L was $626 to $753 million. The budget has since risen to $1.043 billion.
GAO’s assessment of the Restore-L mission follows.
NASA: Assessments of Major Projects
Report to Congressional Committees
Government Accountability Office
April 2020
The Restore-L project will demonstrate the capability to refuel on-orbit satellites for eventual use by commercial entities and on-orbit assembly and installation of an antenna. Specifically, Restore-L plans to autonomously rendezvous with, inspect, capture, refuel, adjust the orbit of, safely release, and depart from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat 7 satellite.
Landsat 7 can extend operations if successfully refueled, but it is planned for retirement if the technology demonstration is unsuccessful. NASA plans to incorporate elements of the core Restore-L technologies into its lunar exploration campaign, such as for refueling the Lunar Gateway.
Project Summary
The Restore-L project is no longer working to preliminary cost and schedule estimates that NASA approved when the project entered the preliminary design phase, largely due to issues related to funding and the late addition of a new payload.
NASA has not yet approved a cost and schedule baseline for the program, but the program is now working to a launch readiness date of December 2023. This is almost 3 years after the launch readiness date estimate at KDP-B.
The project expects its preliminary cost estimate of $1,043 million to increase once it establishes a cost baseline in order to reflect the extension in schedule. In addition, the project has experienced programmatic challenges, including not having sufficient cost reserves to address risks and workforce shortages that have led to delays in some of Restore-L’s subsystems.
Cost and Schedule Status
The Restore-L project is no longer working to preliminary cost and schedule estimates that NASA approved when the project entered the preliminary design phase.
The reasons are twofold. First, the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) proposed budget for the past 2 years has not allowed the project to work to its original funding plan.
In April 2017, NASA set a projected launch readiness date between June and December 2020. However, the funding profile STMD has proposed for the project does not allow the project to maintain this launch date.
Second, STMD directed the project to add a new payload—known as the SPace Infrastructure DExterous Robot (SPIDER)— in April 2019. The new payload intends to demonstrate on-orbit assembly and installation of an antenna.
As a result of the direction to add SPIDER and delays on Restore-L’s key subsystems, the project has replanned its launch readiness date to December 2023. This is about 3 years later than the project’s estimate at key decision point-B.
As of January 2020, the project reports that it is maintaining schedule reserves above guidelines based on this new launch readiness date. However, the project also reports that its current level of funding does not include sufficient cost reserves for fiscal year 2020. As a result, project officials do not anticipate having sufficient cost reserves to address risks and unforeseen technical challenges as they occur.
In addition, project officials stated that they anticipate that life-cycle costs will increase above the project’s prior estimate in order to support a later launch date. NASA has not yet approved a cost and schedule baseline for this project.
In addition, the project experienced workforce challenges in June 2019 that led to delays on its key subsystems and the use of about 4 months of schedule reserves.
The project has had a shortage of both government and contractor staff, and as a result has not had staff with the unique skills required to develop its robotics system, as well as in other key areas.
Project officials said that reasons for the workforce challenges include a loss of engineering support contactors after the Goddard Space Flight Center awarded a new support contract, uncertainty in funding, and the long timeline for hiring civil servants.
The project plans to mitigate these challenges by working with the center to obtain more skilled contractor support and hiring more civil
servants.
Technology
The Restore-L project has six remaining technologies that it needs to mature. Prior to adding the SPIDER payload in 2019, the project had one remaining technology—the vision navigation system—that it needed to mature.
The project did not mature this technology to a technology readiness level 6 by the project’s preliminary design review in November 2017 as recommended by best practices because the system was newly added by the project. The project has since reported that the vision navigation system has achieved a technology readiness level 6.
After adding the SPIDER payload in 2019, the project added six new critical technologies that are not yet mature. Project officials said that they aim to mature these technologies to technology readiness level 6 or above before Restore-L launches.
Project Office Comments
In commenting on a draft of this assessment, Restore-L project officials said that technology demonstration missions are not expected to achieve a technology readiness level 6 by preliminary design review, but will be mature later in the project’s lifecycle. Officials expected this progression of technology maturity based on the nature of the mission.
Officials also provided technical comments on a draft of this assessment, which were incorporated as appropriate.
13 responses to “Over Budget Restore-L Mission 3.5 Years From Launch”
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is there not a commercial capability for this?
Not yet. There is a similar commercial capability of a propulsion satellite which docks with the main engine of a satellite that’s out of propellant. The propulsion satellite then takes over the propulsion responsibilities of the original satellite. This would include putting the original satellite into a graveyard orbit. The propulsion satellite could then rendezvous and dock with another satellite in need of propulsion services.
Cite:
http://www.parabolicarc.com…
that would not work here?
From the pictures I’ve seen online, Landsat 7 does not have a big “main engine bell” like most GEO birds do, which is what is required for the commercial satellite to latch onto. Since its orbital period is 99 minutes, that indicates a very low orbit, so I’d imagine the launch vehicle put it directly into its target orbit (or very close to it).
This is in contrast to commercial GEO birds that are put into a geostationary transfer orbit and must use either a large-ish chemical engine (required by the commercial propulsion system replacement satellite) or ion thrusters (which takes far longer) to put it into the final GEO orbit.
seems like adapting it would be cheaper and faster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi… was launched sat on a payload adapter structure which is at the +Y end (the ‘front’ in orbit) but it should have bolt holes or something for a robotic mission to latch on to. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Interesting that that article on MEV-1 also says “Orbital ATK has filed a lawsuit against DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program, arguing that it competes with its own Mission Extension Vehicle program.”
Since MEV-1 works, NASA could have asked for bids for a MEV-1 type attachment for Landsat 7 in LEO rather than spending over $1 bn trying to develop it NASA style.
Good point.
Sounds like the addition of SPIDER is dragging down the project:
The SPIDER payload doesn’t seem related to the primary mission of refilling LANDSAT with propellant. In my opinion, SPIDER should fly on its own free flying satellite, not on this mission.
A SPIDER only test satellite will likely not get funding as a new project, IMO.
SPIDER looks like something that could be flown to ISS and attached outside. It doesn’t even need to be a “free flying satellite”.
Unfortunately, adding SPIDER to this mission increases the chances of the entire mission being canceled due to schedule and cost overruns. I understand these are the sorts of “tough decisions” to be made. But, IMHO, a propellant refilling demonstration mission is far more important than a robotic assembly test of an antenna.
Looks like another classic example of mission creep – except it’s more like mission doubling.
Ugh. Good intent, absolutely botched implementation again