ORLANDO, Fla. — The emergent on-orbit servicing market faces a case of misaligned expectations. On one side, companies developing technologies to provide satellite maintenance, repair and other on-orbit services seek an early government commitment to bring about private investment.
A flagship customer for these services, the U.S. Space Force, has funded development projects and demonstrations, but it’s not ready to become an anchor customer as it continues to define its requirements and realign budgets.
A clear signal of future demand is needed sooner rather than later, as companies struggle to secure funding based solely on long-term market potential, Robert Hauge, president of SpaceLogistics, said Jan. 30 at the Space Mobility Conference.
SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, provides in-orbit satellite services to commercial companies and is seeking new military customers.
Col. Erik Stockham, director of the Space Warfighting Acquisition Delta, said in-space services are “not going to be a government directed or government mandated development effort. This is going to be about leveraging commercial,” he said during a panel discussion at the conference.
Bridging ‘valley of death’
Others point to early government investments in launch, remote sensing and other space technologies that enabled markets to develop privately, arguing that the on-orbit sector should follow a similar path.
Industry capabilities in the area of space mobility and logistics — to increase satellite lifetimes, to relocate satellites to avoid debris, inspect spacecraft for damage, refuel and upgrade existing satellites — “will enable humanity’s return to the moon and beyond,” Diane Howard, director of commercial space policy for the White House’s National Space Council, said in a speech at the conference.
“We need to keep doing these things,” she said. “But we cannot expect this mission area to develop…
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