Photo by Luminis KantoSatellites have a very definite lifetime, being usually designed to last for about 15 years. However, what if the satellite is in perfect shape but has simply run out of fuel at the end of 15 years? The onboard fuel is only needed for station-keeping. The satellite’s existing solar panels give it enough power for reception and re-transmission of TV signals. Refuelling in orbit is not an option.
Space exploration specialist MDA Corp of Canada thinks it has a solution. MDA knows a lot about robotics in space. It designed the Canadarm robotic arm on the Space Shuttle. Its solution was to send up into orbit a smaller satellite that would attach itself to the existing craft and then push or pull the older craft onto its correct orbital position.
There was a similar scheme from Orbital Recovery, which saw itself as an RAC-type operator in space, waiting with a perfectly fuelled craft for someone to break down. Its plan relied on satellite owners or their insurance companies being able to pay a fortune for an Orbital Recovery space tug to quickly come by and rescue the ailing craft.
Indeed, in 2005 Arabsat even backed the venture, such was its concern for its planned batch of satellite launches. Orbital made good commercial sense, it was thought, for firms with a busy launch manifest but not much orbital back-up. The likes of SES, Intelsat or even Eutelsat can re-position an asset in the event of a failure. Small oufits like Arabsat didn’t have that flexibility.
Then in 2006 Arabsat lost a satellite. Arabsat 4A was launched in to an unusable orbit (a Russian rocket had part-failed after lift-off) and while Orbital Recovery was extremely keen to see one of its satellites launched onto a dramatic rescue mission, Arabsat and the craft’s official owner (the insurance company) decided to de-orbit the satellite over the Pacific Ocean. Arabsat received the insurance payout and built another satellite.
But now the news is not good. MDA says it’s even ready to scrap its programme, which was to try to create a commercial business from servicing in-orbit satellites if an inaugural customer does not materialise within the next couple of months. In a conference call with investors on July 29 the firm’s CEO said it had solved most of the technical hurdles confronting the service, which would have been a first for the space industry. But substantial financial and liability related questions still remained.
‘It boils down to figuring out what exactly is the modus operandi of when the refuellings are going to happen in the lifetime of the satellite, and the issues if something goes wrong, and what is the price… It’s never been done and people have to think of new business models.’
Still looking for customers
Nor has the recent rise in the cost of launching satellites helped the in-orbit servicing model, he said, as it raises the missions’ overall costs. Satellite insurance underwriters have long said that satellite refuelling would confront a broad array of issues, including who would pay if a satellite was damaged by the refuelling vehicle. Satellite operators have said they are unsure whether it is worth spending money to refuel an orbital asset depreciated over 15 years, especially as some satellite components unrelated to the fuel supply are more likely to fail after so much time.
Government agencies (i.e. the military), including the US and Canadian space agencies, have indicated a long-term interest in satellite servicing as part of space exploration programmes that require in-orbit assembly or transfer of hardware, and for removal of pieces of space debris.
‘We’re hopeful that over the next couple of months we can conclude this thing one way or another and move on,’ said MDA.
MDA has tons of work on its books, like supplying payload electronics for two Russian commercial telecommunications satellites, the Express AM5 and AM6 spacecraft – a contract estimated at more than 260million Canadian dollars.
Despite the difficulties, there is a clear interest in Space Tugs. They make business sense if insurance anxieties can be ironed out – and some brave pioneer is prepared to sign a cheque!
by Chris Forrester’s
Published in the September issue of What Satellite & Digital TV on September 9, 2010
