Propellant Depot

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The content is sourced from: https://handwiki.org/wiki/Chemistry:Propellant_depot

An orbital propellant depot is a cache of propellant that is placed in orbit around Earth or another body to allow spacecraft or the transfer stage of the spacecraft to be fueled in space. It is one of the types of space resource depots that have been proposed for enabling infrastructure-based space exploration. Many different depot concepts exist depending on the type of fuel to be supplied, location, or type of depot which may also include a propellant tanker that delivers a single load to a spacecraft at a specified orbital location and then departs. In-space fuel depots are not necessarily located near or at a space station. Potential users of in-orbit refueling and storage facilities include space agencies, defense ministries and communications satellite or other commercial companies. Satellite servicing depots would extend the lifetime of satellites that have nearly consumed all of their orbital maneuvering fuel and are likely placed in a geosynchronous orbit. The spacecraft would conduct a space rendezvous with the depot, or vice versa, and then transfer propellant to be used for subsequent orbital maneuvers. In 2011, Intelsat showed interest in an initial demonstration mission to refuel several satellites in geosynchronous orbit, but all plans have been since scrapped. A low earth orbit (LEO) depot's primary function would be to provide propellant to a transfer stage headed to the moon, Mars, or possibly a geosynchronous orbit. Since all or a fraction of the transfer stage propellant can be off-loaded, the separately launched spacecraft with payload and/or crew could have a larger mass or use a smaller launch vehicle. With a LEO depot or tanker fill, the size of the launch vehicle can be reduced and the flight rate increased—or, with a newer mission architecture where the beyond-Earth-orbit spacecraft also serves as the second stage, can facilitate much larger payloads—which may reduce the total launch costs since the fixed costs are spread over more flights and fixed costs are usually lower with smaller launch vehicles. A depot could also be placed at Earth-Moon Lagrange point 1 (EML-1) or behind the Moon at EML-2 to reduce costs to travel to the moon or Mars. Placing a depot in Mars orbit has also been suggested.

low earth orbit eml-1 eml-2

References

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de Selding, Peter B. (March 3, 2010). "MDA Designing In-orbit Servicing Spacecraft". Space News. http://spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/100303-mda-planning-inorbit-servicing-demo.html. "the refueling vehicle would dock at the target satellite’s apogee-kick motor, peel off a section of the craft’s thermal protection blanket, connect to a fuel-pressure line and deliver the propellant. MDA officials estimate the docking maneuver would take the communications satellite out of service for about 20 minutes. ... The servicing robot would have an in-orbit life of about five years, and would carry enough fuel to perform 10 or 11 satellite-refueling or orbital-cleanup missions."
de Selding, Peter B. (March 14, 2011). "Intelsat Signs Up for Satellite Refueling Service". Space News. http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/intelsat-signs-for-satellite-refueling-service.html. "if the MDA spacecraft performs as planned, Intelsat will be paying a total of some $200 million to MDA. This assumes that four or five satellites are given around 200 kilograms each of fuel. ... The maiden flight of the vehicle would be on an International Launch Services Proton rocket, industry officials said. One official said the MDA spacecraft, including its 2,000 kilograms of refueling propellant, is likely to weigh around 6,000 kilograms at launch."
"Intelsat Picks MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. for Satellite Servicing". press release. CNW Group. http://www.canadanewswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/15/c2866.html. "MDA plans to launch its Space Infrastructure Servicing ("SIS") vehicle into near geosynchronous orbit, where it will service commercial and government satellites in need of additional fuel, re-positioning or other maintenance. ... MDA and Intelsat will work together to finalize specifications and other requirements over the next six months before both parties authorize the build phase of the program. The first refueling mission is to be available 3.5 years following the commencement of the build phase. ... The services provided by MDA to Intelsat under this agreement are valued at more than US$280 million."
Henry, Caleb (June 29, 2017). "MDA restarts satellite servicing business with SES as first customer". https://spacenews.com/mda-restarts-satellite-service-business-with-ses-as-first-customer/.
Morring, Frank, Jr. (March 22, 2011). "An End To Space Trash?". Aviation Week. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2011/03/21/AW_03_21_2011_p23-297586.xml&headline=An%20End%20to%20Space%20Trash?&channel=awst. "ViviSat, a new 50-50 joint venture of U.S. Space and ATK, is marketing a satellite-refueling spacecraft that connects to a target spacecraft using the same probe-in-the-kick-motor approach as MDA, but does not transfer its fuel. Instead, the vehicle becomes a new fuel tank, using its own thrusters to supply attitude control for the target. ... [the ViviSat] concept is not as far along as MDA."
Jeff Foust (March 13, 2015). "Lockheed Martin Pitches Reusable Tug for Space Station Resupply". Space News. http://spacenews.com/lockheed-martin-pitches-reusable-tug-for-space-station-resupply/.
Foust, Jeff (November 6, 2018). "Orbit Fab to test refueling technology on ISS". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/orbit-fab-to-test-refueling-technology-on-iss/.

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