Outpost Program Demonstration Planned by Nanoracks
Many, if not most, of the upper stages of commercial rockets wind up staying in orbit for years or decades. But what if you could turn some of that space junk into a resource? That is the goal of the Outpost program, and some of the technology for the effort is likely to be demonstrated later this year.
"This technology could prove so important as both industry and NASA look to find the most cost-effective vehicles and programs that will bring humans to the Moon, and soon to Mars."
Nanoracks CEO Jeffrey Manber.
In a blog post and news release, Nanoracks CEO Jeffrey Manber said that the company plans to demonstrate the robotic cutting of second stage representative tank material on-orbit. Never before has structural metal cutting been done in-space.
The Outpost program intends to convert spent upper stages that are in orbit and other structures into orbiting hubs for users all over the world after they have completed their primary mission. Nanoracks is developing the tools to convert that space junk into commercial space stations.
According to Manber, as a member of the Outpost program team, Maxar will develop a new articulating robotic arm with a friction milling end-effector for this mission. This friction milling will use high rotations per minute melting our metal material in such a way that a cut is made, yet we anticipate avoiding generating a single piece of orbital debris.
The mission is targeting a Q4 2020 dedicated rideshare mission, will fly on an ESPA ring, and will activate after the deployment of all other secondary payloads is complete.
As our mission commences, we will have 30 minutes to one hour to complete the cutting of three metal pieces that are representative of various vehicle upper stages, including the Centaur 3. Nanoracks plans to downlink photos and videos of the friction milling and cutting.
Nanoracks also will be making available 3U of hosted payload space (no deployables) on this mission. Specifically, they are looking for bioscience and biomedical research that can directly contribute to the understanding of the harsh environment of space on long-duration journeys. An official call for proposals will be issued in the coming weeks.
"This technology could prove so important as both industry and NASA look to find the most cost-effective vehicles and programs that will bring humans to the Moon, and soon to Mars. This mission is just step one of many for Nanoracks, and we are grateful to NASA for providing us with this outstanding opportunity," Manber said. "I am also personally excited about this mission as Nanoracks is showing how commercial access to the International Space Station has truly paved the way for future commercial platforms in orbit. We started our business on station, and now we are growing from our roots."
(Source: Nanoracks. Image provided)