The US is building a refueling station in space for its facilities
Kyiv • UNN
Astroscale U.S. is building a refueling station in space for the U.S. Space Force. The fuel ship will refuel objects in geostationary orbit, allowing them to stay there longer.
A spacecraft with fuel tanks for engines at an altitude of more than 36,000 km above the Earth will refuel two orbital objects of the US Space Forces. The refueling station is being built by the department's orbital enterprise, reports Mashable, writes UNN.
Details
The opening of a refueling station in space was announced by the orbital service company Astroscale U.S. Its launch is scheduled for the summer of 2026.
During this mission, funded by the US Department of Defense, Astroscale's 660-pound ship will travel to an area called geostationary orbit, which is a unique location around Earth. In this orbit, spacecraft orbit at the same speed as Earth, meaning they remain fixed in the same position relative to the planet. There, the Astroscale ship will carefully approach its first target satellite of the Space Forces, called Tetra-5, and pump fuel.
Then the tanker will push off and inspect the scene with a special camera to make sure there is no leakage of valuable fuel. Then the tanker will fly to the nearest fuel depot or refueling station, join the depot and pick up fuel from the depot before heading to the second refueling target.
The Space Forces have not yet disclosed the names of all the objects involved in the mission. But they emphasize that this will be the first time that a spacecraft will be refueled outside the planet.
The launch of such a fuel shuttle will help keep the spacecraft in orbit longer. Accordingly, there will be no need to prematurely curtail or pause operations to refuel the engines of space objects. This will be a new type of full-service refueling station.
This fundamentally changes the way we operate in space. The essence of the mission is to ensure that all its parts, the fuel depot, the customer and the tanker, are viable, working and clearly performing their tasks
Let us remind you
Experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) in their annual report reported that too much space debris has accumulated in near-Earth orbit - parts and debris of used equipment and spacecraft. Landslides and lags are predicted.
