SATELLITE REPAIRS GOING ROBOTIC

Devices could travel among orbiters to repair and refuel

which developed Raven. “We need to put our servicer underneath it with a robotic catcher’s mitt in the right place.”

The division is also developing refueling technologies and is working to eventually launch a fully robotic spacecraft that will go to a satellite in orbit and autonomously capture and refuel it.

The autonomous-capture aspect is important, Reed said, because waiting for a video signal to reach human operators on Earth would be too slow.

“We need rapid, rapid, rapid,” he said, snapping his fingers. “You don’t think when you reach out your hand to catch a set of car keys.”

Less time-sensitive tasks, such as cutting wires, will be done tele-robotically via human operators.

NASA’s satellite servicing project division is not intended to compete with industry but rather transfer the technology it develops to interested parties, Reed said.

Rocket and satellite maker Orbital ATK Inc., which was recently acquired by defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp., has begun assembling a service spacecraft known as the Mission Extension Vehicle-1. The craft is set for launch next year with service starting as soon as 2019.

Some analysts question whether this robot geek squad will be needed at all. A coming boom in small, cheap satellites could replace more expensive, large satellites.

Along with reduced launch costs, led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its reusable rockets, it could be cheaper to launch several new small satellites than fix or refuel old ones.

But Christensen of Bryce Space and Technology is confident there will be a need for a high-and-low mix of satellites. She adds that cheaper launch costs could drive more repairs.

“If you’ve got a quarter of a billion dollars of hardware on orbit, it seems like it would be useful to figure out an application for that,” Christensen said.