DARPA Eyes Satellite Servicing Demonstration with Industry Partner

摘要

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is hoping to build on its body of work on space robotics and on-orbit proximity operations with a new satellite servicing mission in geostationary orbit that could take place as early as 2019, according to a Sept. 3 posting on the Federal Business Opportunities website. DARPA has been experimenting with robotic satellite servicing technology for more than a decade. Currently the agency is pursuing a program dubbed Phoenix, which is aimed at salvaging and repurposing usable components from dead satellites, a concept some have likened to on-orbit surgery. In a request for information, DARPA said it is eyeing a new program to advance the agency's work in the field and, in the most optimistic scenario, serve as a catalyst for a commercial satellite servicing industry.