Coming up, gas stations in space to fuel satellites

Orbit Fab to provide refuelling technology to extend their orbital life

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The US company Orbit Fab is aiming to produce the go-to "gas stations" in space, its CEO says hoping its refuelling technology will make the surging satellite industry more sustainable and profitable.

The solar panels typically attached to satellites can generate energy for their onboard systems such as cameras and radios, but can't help the orbiting objects adjust their positions, explains Daniel Faber, who co-founded the company in 2018.

"Everything always drifts, and so very quickly, you're not where you needed to be so you need to keep adjusting, which means you need to keep using up propellant," he says at the space industry's annual gathering in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Satellites' lives are therefore limited by how much fuel they can carry along with them-at least for now.