The British company Skyrora is one step closer to launching a space tug that could pull satellites into different orbits, replace old satellites and even clean up space debris.
The top stage of the Skyrora XL rocket successfully completed a crucial static fire test at the engine development complex in Fife, Scotland just before Christmas.
This upper stage of the rocket doubles as a “mission-ready orbital transfer vehicle (OTV)” that can perform a series of missions in space after the delivery of its payload.
Edinburgh-based Skyrora hopes that by the end of next year or early 2023, they will be able to launch OTV, along with the small satellites it can carry inside it, over the XL rocket from one of Scotland’s space ports.
They say this is a huge step for the UK space sector as it will allow them to provide space services as well as launch satellites from British soil.
The top stage of the Skyrora XL rocket successfully completed a crucial static fire test at the Fife Scotland engine development complex just before Christmas
On December 23, the Skyrora test and flight operations team conducted one of the most important test campaigns to date, a complete static fire test in the upper stage.
The engine is burned for 450 seconds over three firings and involved a fully integrated configuration of the engine, power systems, avionics and flight software.
The vehicle will be able to deliver payloads into orbit – and once in space can perform several missions, including replacing redundant satellites or removing garbage.
Skyrora CEO Volodymyr Levykin said; “Our goal has always been to be ready for the mission once all the regulations and permissions have been implemented, and this development not only brings us closer to that point, but also takes us beyond just preparing for launch.
“We were deliberately reassured about this aspect of our Skyrora XL launch vehicle, as we had technical challenges to reach this stage and we wanted to make sure that all the tests had a satisfactory result, which they did. now.”
The engine is burned 450 seconds over three fires and involved a fully integrated configuration of the engine, power systems, avionics and flight software.
He said that in the current climate there is a real lack of good news, so they wanted to make sure it worked properly before sharing it. with the world.
“It is important to show that, even in difficult times, we are still a nation that continues to innovate and take the lead in some high ambitions,” Levykin said.
With OneWeb looking to launch more than 600 small and SpaceX looking to build a Starlink constellation of 42,000 satellites, there will be just as much demand for space operations as well as launch services, Skyrora believes.
“The third stage of OTV Skyrora will meet this demand while also performing initial launch flights” of new satellites, says the company.
So far, the company has performed a rigorous series of engine tests, but this last exercise involved a fully integrated configuration.
This included the engine, structure and flight weight supply systems, flight avionics and complete flight software, which will be used in the first flight of the Skyrora XL – at some point next year or early 2023.
The test was of the flight software and the structure of the vehicle, because the vehicle performed a complete set of engine burns and maneuvers that simulate the flight of the upper stage in orbit above the Earth.
Passing this test puts Skyrora one step closer to completing the XL vehicle.
OTV has the ability to rebuild its engine several times, allowing it to perform multiple missions during a single trip, making it extremely configurable.
“The Skyrora upper stage is a historic first not only for the company, but for the British space industry, as it is the first such ‘mission-ready’ vehicle to be developed in the country,” said Skyrora’s chief engineering officer, Dr Jack James Marlow.
In the mid-1980s, several studies were conducted on the development of an orbital maneuvering vehicle (OMV) – sometimes called a “space tug”.
With OneWeb looking to launch more than 600 small and SpaceX looking to build a 42,000-star Starlink constellation, there will be as much demand for space operations as well as launch services, according to Skyrora
The idea gained little traction due to the limited number of launches at the time, but the appetite for such a vehicle has gained momentum lately.
This is partly due to the privatization of the space launch sector, which makes it cheaper and easier to get objects into orbit.
In 2018 Spaceflight Inc. launched Sherpa OMV aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, and in October 2019, an American consortium led by Northrop Grumman launched its “Mission Expansion Vehicle” into orbit in Kazakhstan.
The probe was used to reposition an existing satellite into a new orbit, allowing it to extend its mission for another four years, reducing the number of launches needed to replace it.
The upper stage of Skyrora, once in orbit, can navigate to a wide variety of orbits and make several stops – performing a number of functions during its journey.
The vehicle will be able to deliver payloads into orbit – and once in space can perform several missions, including replacing redundant satellites or removing garbage
This represents a paradigm shift in orbit operations, Skyrora boasted.
“Having a last-mile orbital delivery service that can leave numerous satellites in different orbits, move satellites from one orbit to another or perform a variety of maintenance tasks, is revolutionary for the UK / EU space industry.
This would give the UK the ability to remove space debris, launch Earth monitoring satellites and even keep existing satellites in orbit without multiple launches.
“With multiple missions accomplished in a single rocket launch, Skyrora optimizes each launch, while reducing any impact on the local environment,” they wrote.
“This is associated with the use of green fuel, Ecosene, which fuels the vehicle to ensure that the UK has the greenest space industry in the world.”
WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170 MILLION PIECES OF DEAD SATELLITES, EXPENSED ROCKETS AND PAINT FLAKES “THREAT” PICTURE IN THE SPACE INDUSTRY
It is estimated that there are 170 million pieces of so-called “space debris” – left behind after missions that can be as large as the rocket stages spent or as small as paint flakes – in orbit along with about 700 billion US dollars (555 billion pounds) of space infrastructure.
But only 22,000 are being tracked, and with fragments capable of traveling at speeds of more than 27,000 km / h, even small pieces could damage or destroy satellites.
However, traditional fastening methods do not work in space because the suction cups do not work in a vacuum and the temperatures are too cold for substances such as tape and glue.
Magnet-based claws are useless because most debris in orbit around the Earth is not magnetic.
About 500,000 pieces of man-made debris (the artist’s impression) currently orbit our planet, made up of disused satellites, pieces of spacecraft and used rockets.
Most of the proposed solutions, including scrap harpoons, either require or cause strong interactions with the scrap, which could push those objects in unintentional, unpredictable directions.
Scientists point to two events that have seriously worsened the problem of space debris.
The first was in February 2009, when a telecommunications satellite Iridium and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.
The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite.
Experts also pointed to two sites that have become worrisome.
One is the low Earth orbit, used by Satnav satellites, the ISS, manned missions in China and the Hubble Telescope, among others.
The other is in geostationary orbit and is used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth.