LONDON (Effective Space Solutions PR)– Effective Space Solutions, a provider of in-orbit services, has signed an LOI with a satellite operator for a multi-year life-extension service.
TAG
“in-orbit servicing”
BELTSVILLE, MD., March 19, 2013 (ViviSat PR) — ViviSat, the leading provider of in-orbit servicing, has announced a unique, highly agile hosted payload capability that will supplement its life extension services.
ViviSat uses the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), manufactured by one of its parent companies, ATK. The primary mission of the MEV is to dock with an orbiting satellite and serve as the propulsion and attitude control systems. This enables mission extension for satellites that have run out of maneuvering fuel yet still have healthy payload and power systems.
The Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, investigation (center, on platform) uses the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 and the Canadian Dextre robot (right) to demonstrate satellite-servicing tasks. (Credit: NASA/CSA)
By Adrienne Alessandro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Following six historic days of operations aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, demonstrated remotely controlled robots using current-day technology could refuel satellites not designed to be serviced.
Longueuil, Quebec, January 25, 2013 (CSA PR) – Dextre, the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic “handyman” on board the International Space Station (ISS), made space history last night by successfully refueling a mock satellite on the exterior of the station.
Topping off the satellite’s fuel tank was the pivotal task in the experimental Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to demonstrate how robots could service and refuel satellites on location in space to extend their useful lifetime.
ViviSat Press Release
U.S. Space LLC, a U.S.-based creator of dedicated space solutions for government and commercial clients, and ATK, an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company, today announced the creation of ViviSat, a new satellite life extension venture. ViviSat provides geosynchronous satellite operators with flexible, scalable, capital-efficient, and low-risk in-orbit mission extension and protection services that can add several years to the revenue-producing life of a satellite.
NASA Jump-starts Space Technology Program
Space News
Senior NASA officials are so eager to jump-start advanced technology efforts that they sought and won congressional approval to devote $36.5 million in 2010 funding to eight high-priority research projects.
Those projects, which include joint efforts with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to investigate horizontal launch capabilities, in-orbit satellite servicing and power-beam propulsion, are set to begin immediately, said Robert Braun, NASA chief technologist.