The current state of the art for bi-propellant propulsion systems employed by telecom spacecraft is to have a gas regulated system to maintain the propellant feed pressure in the propellant tanks for the Apogee engine burn. For on-station the pressure in the propellant tank is allowed to decay over life (aka blowdown) and thus the thruster propellant inlet pressure (and hence thruster performance) decays over time. Recently a number of different pump concepts have been proposed to improve the performance of propulsion launcher systems.

The previous GSTP de-risk activity has demonstrated the manufacturing feasibility of an inner nozzle shell. A full size inner part has been produced in 253MA Stainless Steel and a subscale part in Carpenter 21-6-9 Stainless Steel.

The main benefits of this manufacturing process are a potential recurring cost and lead time reduction for the nozzle extension (since the number of parts, welds and other manufacturing steps required for the nozzle manufacturing would significantly decrease).

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As proved in several missions, the Lorentz force acting on the electric current carried by a space electrodynamic tether (EDT) can be used to propel spacecraft without using propellant. State-of-the-art EDTs involve a bare tape for passive electron collection (anodic contact) and an active device, or a tether segment coated with a low-work-function material, for electron emission (cathodic contact).

During this Phase 0 maturation study, ASUK, with the support of Thales Alenia Space (TAS), Nammo, MDA and GMV, performed a programmatic, business and technical assessment of a future low-Earth orbit (LEO) refuelling mission. The mission concept proposes developing and demonstrating core technologies in a preliminary service offering to enable a commercial in-orbit refuelling service. Such a service will swiftly redefine how satellites are designed and operated, launching a dynamic and sustainable in-orbit ecosystem with significant potential.

In the frame of an In Orbit Servicing Maturation Phase (IOSMP) contract, this maturation study has been realised on the START-€ solution which is proposed to extend the lifetime of geostationary orbit (GEO) communication satellites. The START-€ servicer spacecraft will first demonstrate on a GEO communication satellite its ability to perform the critical operations related to its mission, before proceeding with several commercial life extension missions by capturing and taking the AOCS control of aged client spacecraft.

The results of the IOSPR maturation phase study done by D-Orbit (UK) are presented.