Orbital Recovery Corporation is pursuing a space tugboat billed as the Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System, or SLES. The private firm... wants to extend the useful life of big-ticket satellites, as well as rescue hardware flung into wrong orbits.

Looks interesting - and I like the name of the VC firm :). Read the original article here

Satellite Savior: A Look at an Earth-Orbit Rescue Vehicle
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
In space.com posted: 07:30 am ET 22 January 2003

If you are lost in space, there`s nothing like a pick-up service to get you where you`re going.

Take for instance the recent plight of Astra 1K - a huge and expensive commercial satellite built by Alcatel Space of France for SES Astra, a major telecommunications provider based in Luxembourg.

In late November, Astra 1K was lobbed into a far lower altitude than planned courtesy of a misfiring upper stage of a Russian Proton booster. The rocket-for-hire was provided by International Launch Services -- a joint US-Russian venture.

Right off the bat, ground controllers started to nudge the satellite to a safer altitude, buying more time and thus saving it from a destructive reentry into the Earth`s atmosphere. At stake - not only total loss of the spacecraft, but also loss of big bucks in satellite service revenue.

Initially, the spacecraft was stabilized in a circular orbit 180 miles (290 kilometers) above Earth.

However, on December 10, a decision was made by SES Astra to purposely dump the costly satellite into Earth`s atmosphere. With airways and sea-lanes cleared, the Astra 1K fell to pieces high over the Pacific Ocean. Any satellite leftovers reportedly fell into a polygon-shaped safety area, splashing into remote ocean waters.

The loss of Astra 1K, however, may become a thing of the past. That`s the promise from a private group wanting to save stranded satellites from such gloom and doom endings.

Fast-paced plan

Orbital Recovery Corporation is pursuing a space tugboat billed as the Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System, or SLES. The private firm, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, California, wants to extend the useful life of big-ticket satellites, as well as rescue hardware flung into wrong orbits.

The group announced December 5 they were in "significant discussions" with the stakeholders concerned with the future of the Astra 1K spacecraft - the fourteenth satellite in the Astra series.

Hammered out was a fast-paced salvage mission to the massive satellite.

That plan called for having a SLES fabricated, tested, and shot into space in approximately 20 months. It would then cozy up to and dock with the 5-metric ton Astra 1K. Once firmly latched onto the wayward satellite, the space tug would use its own propulsion system to drive the errant spacecraft into a higher, "live long and prosper" operational altitude typically used by many telecom satellites.

However, saving Astra 1K was not to be.

Engineering teams of SES Astra came to the conclusion that due to the rapid degradation of the satellite, coupled to the technical difficulties and risks associated with a rescue mission, a commercial in orbit recovery was not a viable option.

Case in point

The loss of Astra 1K, however, has become a case in point for Orbital Recovery Corporation, led by Walt Anderson, Orbital Recovery Corporation`s Chief Executive Officer.

In December, the company stated it had a letter of intent that enables DLR German Aerospace Center robotic capture tool equipment to be fitted to SLES. "This is a very important beginning which will provide us with mature on-orbit robotic servicing technology that greatly reduces the risk of implementing our business plan," Anderson said.

Anderson is no stranger to provocative concepts. As founder of Gold & Appel Transfer S.A., a venture capital and business development company, he has invested in private and public companies operating in telecommunication, aerospace and water transportation business.

As director of MirCorp -- formed first to privatize Russia`s Mir space station -- Anderson and MirCorp arranged for the first space ‘tourist’, Dennis Tito, to visit the International Space Station. MirCorp has also announced plans to build and launch a new mini-station to an orbit near the ISS in cooperation with RSC Energia with the support of the Russian Space Agency, the Russian Government and NASA.

Sized for launch

So what are the technical fine points behind the commercial space tug?

The SLES is viewed as a modular spacecraft that can be adapted to operate with a range of telecommunications satellites -- from small relay platforms to mega-heavy spacecraft. Proven, off-the-shelf hardware would be utilized in production of the SLES, helping to slash costs, yet ensure high reliability.

SLES would come replete with a primary ion propulsion system.

The SLES is designed to attach itself to a targeted satellite`s apogee kick motor, doing so using a proprietary docking device. Apogee kick motors are widely used to boost satellites and for station-keeping. The motor itself provides a strong, easy to get to, link-up point between SLES and satellite - one that is always within the satellite`s center of gravity.

Weighing in at a projected 1,100 pounds to 1,760 pounds (500 kilograms to 800 kilograms), the SLES is outfitted with large deployable solar panels. Those energy-generating panels power sets of ion thruster packs mounted on the tug`s deployable booms.

Using its own independent attitude control system, thrusters, and propellant, the SLES then pushes the docked spacecraft to the desired orbital position and altitude.

Design lifetime of the SLES is projected to be 12 years, and a typical mission docked to the parent satellite is 10 years. A sufficient amount of propellant will be retained on-board the SLES to boost the attached satellite out of orbit at the completion of the mission.

According to the Orbital Recovery Corporation, the SLES would be sized for launch as a secondary payload on a large vehicle such as the Ariane 5, or as a primary payload on an inexpensive Russian launcher like the Dnepr.

Wasteful loss of valuable assets

Beyond the rescue of stranded satellites, the SLES is seen as a way to stretch out the operating lifetimes of telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit, perhaps for 10 or more additional years.

Orbital Recovery Corporation has identified more than 40 spacecraft currently in orbit that are candidates for life extension using the SLES.

As example, telecommunications satellites typically cost $250 million - and they are designed for an average useful on-orbit life of 10 to 15 years. Such spacecraft typically generate revenues of more than $50 million per year.

But once their on-board fuel load reads near empty, the satellites are boosted into a kind of junkyard orbit and decommissioned. However, in a majority of situations, payloads of relay transponders and associated electronics on those spacecraft continue to function. That forced retirement equates to loss of valuable assets -- and money -- every year.

Currently, there are no viable means of prolonging the useful life of telecommunications satellites, resulting in the wasteful loss of valuable assets every year.

Orbital Recovery Corporation contends their SLES orbital tugboat would keep telecommunications platforms in their proper orbital slot for many years beyond the normal operational lifetime. Additionally, SLES fits the bill for use on new satellites. Given the tugboat, manufacturers and operators could begin to envision spacecraft having far longer operating periods than currently possible.

Closing the business case

While the promise and premise of SLES appears viable, some space experts feel the true economic case for a space tug is more a wait and see game.

"Sooner or later, a space tug will happen," said William Ailor, Director of The Aerospace Corporation`s Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris. "The question is…when will it be cost effective?"

Ailor said his guess is that the first use for the space tug might be dealing with satellites at end-of-mission, primarily at geosynchronous Earth altitude, as well as moving dead satellites out of that area.

"The technology exists to support such operations, but the real issue is whether any of the concepts are economically viable," said Nicholas Johnson, NASA`s Chief Scientist and Program Manager for Orbital Debris at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Johnson pointed out the need to separate the "recovery" operations -- as was the case of Astra 1K -- from the more routine, re-fueling/service life extension proposals. "In the case of the latter, the business case is more difficult to make since spacecraft design changes could well prove more cost effective."

Change the economics

Dennis Wingo, Orbital Recovery Corporation`s Chief Technical Officer, told SPACE.com that "the time is now to change the economics of on orbit servicing and salvage operations." The Astra 1K is an example of how the SLES could have been applied to a specific mission.

Wingo said the recent letter of intent to collaborate with the German space agency, DLR, is a final link in Orbital Recovery Corporation`s development chain.

"It will allow us to provide this service to our customers and help the insurance industry stem the tide of losses suffered recently to retire the greatest risk area of our product development," Wingo added.

Additional capture tools will be produced by German industry for subsequent SLES flights. The DLR collaboration also provides the software for remote telepresence operation for the rendezvous and docking segment of the SLES mission.

Now with the Astra 1K incident to bolster the business case, orbital space tugs may indeed become necessary hardware on the space scene in years to come.

Zentek International