Space Machines Company and U.S.-based Orbit Fab have entered into a partnership to advance in-space servicing capabilities and establish a sustainable space ecosystem.
The partnership brings together two industry leaders from opposite sides of the globe and is defined by the joining of innovative technologies, most notably the installation of Orbit Fab’s space fiducial alignment markers on Space Machine Company’s Orbital Servicing Vehicle, Optimus.
These markers will act like QR Codes in space, allowing Space Machines Company to work collaboratively with an approaching vehicle by using the markers to provide valuable position and orientation data, ensuring safe and reliable on-orbit operations.
Optimus will provide on-orbit, transportation and other in-space services following its launch on the SpaceX Transporter-10 in early 2024.
The success and sustainability of Optimus’ launch will be supported by the attachment of the two “fiducial” markers developed by Orbit Fab.
These fiducials, which are designed to support the safe and effective navigation and approach of Optimus, will demonstrate Orbit Fab’s ability to achieve safe navigation for the refuelling of spacecraft in-orbit.
This partnership will reach a significant milestone in 2024, with both companies scheduled to launch missions on board SpaceX Transporter rideshares.
The mission of Space Machines Company and Orbit Fab is geared towards conducting a range of rendezvous and proximity operations maneuvers to validate and test the technologies of both companies.
The cooperation between Space Machines Company, Orbit Fab, and SpaceX also represents a practical example of successful international collaboration.
“This collaboration represents a significant milestone in the advancement of in-space servicing technologies. It is the first purely commercial partnership of its kind and will serve as a pioneering example of in-space validation of these groundbreaking technologies,” said Rajat Kulshrestha, Space Machines Company co-founder and CEO. “By leveraging our respective strengths and expertise, Space Machines Company and Orbit Fab are setting a new standard for international collaboration in the space industry.”
“Orbit Fab was founded to eliminate the single-use spacecraft paradigm through in-space refuelling. Our collaborative work with Space Machines Company demonstrates cooperative docking alignment markers that support safe, sustainable space operations,” said Daniel Faber, Orbit Fab CEO. “We provide these spacecraft fiducials to support cooperative refuelling in space, but they can also support any satellite servicing activities. By simply including a low-footprint fiducial market, any company can make its assets serviceable just as Space Machines Company has done.”
