Economic value analysis of on-orbit servicing for geosynchronous communication satellites

Commercialization analysis of on-orbit servicing for spacecraft

“…It can be seen from the literature [8] that the OOS is commercially viable when the initial costs of geosynchronous communication satellites and the servicing architecture are more than $242 M and less than $140 M respectively. All the participating parties could benefit from on-orbit life extension service under the above condition.…”

“…Due to the different technology difficulties and complexities, as well as the specific situation of each target satellite, the break-even point and the tolerable cost of service providers of each on-orbit servicing project are different. However, the results of several types of on-orbit services from the literature [8] shows that providing on-orbit services to the GEO region will benefit all parties.…”

“…According to the method described in Ref. [8]， it is easy to draw a conclusion by similar analysis: as long as the on-orbit refueling price is less than $13 M/year (namely, $13 M per 60kg propellant), the value created by a satellite with refueling function will exceed that of a satellite whose propulsion system could not be refueled. If such satellite with refueling function is developed, the price of OOS can easily be less than $9 M/year, and the client value will increase significantly.…”

“…They revealed the economic feasibility of typical OOS projects in different periods. Recently, an economic value analysis framework of OOS based on the combination of multistage option and NPV method from perspective in clients' and service providers' side respectively has been proposed [8]. The method was used to find the acceptable price range of on orbit services and to reveal the key driving factors of OOS value, and some useful conclusions were obtained for GEO communication satellites on the break-even cost of OOS, the feasible charging price range, and the value sharing strategy between the client side and the server side.…”

Design and Operation of a Gripper for a Berthing Task

“…The process of space systems maintenance is called "on-orbit servicing" (OOS). However, maintenance on potentially working satellite with no crucial malfunctioning (for example, out of fuel) is cost-effective [3]. An OOS system includes a base or servicing satellite with a manipulator installed on it, a grasping end-effector at the extremity of the manipulator, and a target satellite to be maintained.…”