In Interesting Engineering’s article on Space Debris Collection: It’s getting crowded in space with plenty of satellites being launched every year. But what do you do with the old inactive satellites? How do you ensure they don’t become dangerous garbage? “Our fleet of reusable servicers, located in different orbits, enables satellite’s life extension and space debris removal.
MEV-2 is also not moving its satellite to a different orbit like MEV-1 did; instead it will act as a new engine and fuel tank to extend the spacecraft’s life. Demand for GEO life extension missions will grow to 75 satellites by 2030, according to a recent Northern Sky Research (NSR) forecast, representing a $3.2.
Last month, Spaceflight Inc. launched 16 payloads on board its Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX-1 on a SpaceX rocket to deliver them to a precise orbits, a first in LEO SSO orbit. And soon, a 2nd MEV from Northrop Grumman will latch on the Intelsat 10-02, solidifying the In-Orbit Servicing Market for Life Extension missions.
The Global Banking and Finance Review covers NSR’s In-Orbit Servicing & Space Situational Awareness Markets, (4th Ed.) report. “The In-Orbit Servicing & Space Situational Awareness Market continues to progress regardless of COVID-19, as many launches are scheduled for early 2021,” states NSR. Life Extension will overshadow all other applications, generating 57% of total revenues over.
NSR’s In-Orbit Servicing & Space Situational Awareness Markets, 4th Edition (IoSM4) report, released today, forecasts In-Orbit Satellite services (IoS) cumulative revenues of $6.2 billion by 2030. While growth is anticipated across all applications, GEO Satellite Life Extension is expected to generate the largest portion of revenues due to the sheer number of satellites expected to.