Towards a Circular Space Economy: Satellite Refurbishment and Upgrading Services for Orbital Sustainability

The In-Orbit Refurbishment and Upgrading Service (IRUS) is a first-of-its-kind refurbishment and upgrading mission concept, proposed by Astroscale and BAE Systems, aligned with ESA’s Circular Economy strategy. The outcome of the systems study was a servicer design, taking elements of Astroscale’s ELSA-M and COSMIC platforms, and a modified, prepared BAE Systems client platform. DHV Technology assessed the potential to refurbish and upgrade solar cells and solar arrays. This service will be the next step towards an in-orbit economy, underpinning future in-orbit servicing goals, such as in-orbit assembly, manufacturing, and recycling, and adding significant value to other services such as refuelling.