Orbit Fab and Neutron Star Systems Announce Partnership for Sustainable Propulsion and Satellite Refuelling
Denver and Colorado Springs, April 7, 2022 Orbit Fab and Neutron Star Systems (NSS) established a cooperative agreement for co-development of satellite refuelling solutions with green propellants. The agreement lays the foundation to increase the range of refuellable propellants by combining NSS propellant-agnostic electric propulsion technology with Orbit Fab’s refuelling interfaces and tankers.
NSS and Orbit Fab’s cooperation has been fostered by the United States Space Force and Air Force Research Laboratory’s Catalyst Accelerator – both companies were members of the accelerator’s On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacture (OSAM) cohort which took place in Spring 2021. The cooperation is founded on Orbit Fab’s leadership in satellite refuelling solutions and the wide propellant flexibility of NSS’s SUPREMETM electric thruster. With growing concerns over the safety and cost of traditional Hydrazine propellant, the adoption of new green propellants such as LMP 103S will be critical for enabling safer and more sustainable space operations.
Orbit Fab’s RAFTI refuelling interface
Orbit Fab is pioneering the introduction of on-orbit refuelling, having launched its first tanker to orbit, Tanker-001 Tenzing, last summer. Earlier this month, Orbit Fab announced a $12 million AFWERX STRATFI program to integrate RAFTI onto DoD assets to provide them with refuelling services.
NSS’ AF-MPD Thrusters
NSS SUPREME™ is an Applied-Field Magnetoplasmadynamic (AF-MPD) thruster that leverages industrially mature High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) to create the magnetic fields to create a dense, high temperature plasma and generate thrust through crossed electrostatic and magnetic fields. The result is a low thrust and high fuel efficiency thruster that can operate on several different types of propellant, including Argon and Ammonia, which are over 100x cheaper than the industry standard, Xenon
About Orbit Fab
Orbit Fab believes a bustling in-space economy is a precondition to permanent jobs in space. By providing a ubiquitous supply of satellite propellant in LEO, GEO, and cis-lunar space (branded Gas Stations in Space™), the company improves existing space business models (communications and Earth observation) and helps open new industries like space tourism, manufacturing, and mining. Orbit Fab has racked up a number of world-firsts: the first-ever commercially available in-space refueling port (RAFTI™), the first-ever private company to resupply the International Space Station with water, and the first-ever satellite fuel depot. The future for satellites is no longer restricted to the fuel they are launched with. Orbit Fab delivers the fuel and other materials that are needed, where and when they are needed, to enable business models never before thought possible. The company recently announced its first commercial fuel sale to Astroscale, a private orbital debris removal company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
About Neutron Star Systems
Neutron Star Systems is a new-space start-up headquartered in Cologne, Germany, focused on the development of superconductor-based spacecraft systems. NSS core product is an Electric Propulsion system combining High-Temperature Superconductors with Applied-Field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters, providing greater scalability, efficiency, and operational flexibility, and enabling more powerful and more capable spacecraft while cutting costs by up to billions of dollars. Alongside the German headquarters, NSS runs operations in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
FOR RELEASE 7th April
Contacts:
Grant Kendall-Bell
Business Development Manager
Orbit Fab, Inc.
1460 Overlook Dr.
Lafayette, CO 80026
grant@orbitfab.com
Manuel La Rosa Betancourt
President
Neutron Star Systems USA Corp
c/o Catalyst Campus
455 East Pikes Peak Ave, STE 102
Colorado Springs, CO, 80903.
manuel@neutronstar.systems
