{"id":17550,"date":"2021-05-18T18:38:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T10:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/starfish-space-partners-with-benchmark-space-systems-to-support-orbital-refueling\/"},"modified":"2021-05-18T18:38:17","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T10:38:17","slug":"starfish-space-partners-with-benchmark-space-systems-to-support-orbital-refueling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/starfish-space-partners-with-benchmark-space-systems-to-support-orbital-refueling\/","title":{"rendered":"Starfish Space partners with Benchmark Space Systems to support orbital refueling"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_621203\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-621203\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-621203\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish-630x346.jpg\" alt=\"Orbit Fab tanker spacecraft\" width=\"630\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish-630x346.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish-1260x691.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish-768x421.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish-1536x843.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/210518-starfish.jpg 1886w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-621203\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artwork shows Orbit Fab\u2019s \u201cGas Stations in Space\u201d tanker in orbit. (Orbit Fab \/ Benchmark Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Starfish Space, a startup founded by veterans of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture, is teaming up with Vermont-based Benchmark Space Systems to work on a precision-guided orbital refueling system for satellites.<\/p>\n<p>The strategic collaboration calls for Starfish \u2014 which has its home base not far from Blue Origin\u2019s HQ in Kent, Wash. \u2014 to test its Cephalopod docking software with Benchmark\u2019s Halcyon thruster system. The Halcyon thrusters use non-toxic hydrogen peroxide as their propellant.<\/p>\n<p>The setup would get its first on-orbit demonstration during Orbit Fab\u2019s Tanker-001 Tenzing mission, which is due for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket next month. (The pre-launch logistics for that rideshare mission, known as Transporter-2, are being handled by Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis Cephalopod mission is an exciting step for Starfish Space,\u201d Trevor Bennett, Starfish\u2019s co-founder, said today in a news release. \u201cOur RPOD [rendezvous, proximity operations and docking] operations will validate our novel capabilities and set the stage for a new era of affordable and available satellite servicing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On-orbit servicing and refueling could extend the operating lifetimes of satellites, or allow for new spacecraft designs that wouldn\u2019t need to carry so much fuel into orbit for in-space maneuvering.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Creating the First Gas Stations in Space\u2122 - Orbit Fab Story\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qiwJscZmyvQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>San Francisco-based Orbit Fab has already tested its refueling technology on the International Space Station. The Tanker-001 spacecraft, built by Astro Digital, is designed to demonstrate on-orbit maneuverability.<\/p>\n<p>Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber said he was \u201cthrilled to see the enthusiasm and expertise\u201d that\u2019s driving collaborations like Starfish\u2019s partnership with Benchmark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more partnerships there are, pushing new ideas and innovations, the sooner the broader space industry will catch the wave of new in-space services like our Orbit Fab Gas Stations in Space tanker, set to launch RPOD maneuver demonstrations in a matter of days,\u201d Faber said.<\/p>\n<p>Orbit Fab and Starfish Space are also exploring further integration of Cephalopod and Orbit Fab\u2019s Spark RPOD hardware kit. Starfish plans to use Cephalopod aboard its own small space tug known as the Otter, which is designed to support satellite servicing missions such as life extension and orbital debris removal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artwork shows Orbit Fab\u2019s \u201cGas Stations in Space\u201d tanker in orbit. (Orbit Fab \/ Benchmark Space Illustration) Starfish Space, a startup founded by veterans of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture, is teaming up with Vermont-based Benchmark Space Systems to work on a precision-guided orbital refueling system for satellites. The strategic collaboration calls [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4743,4723,4344],"class_list":["post-17550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-benchmark-space-systems","tag-orbit-fab","tag-starfish-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}