Orbit Fab to lead ESA backed ASTRAL refuelling demo in orbit

Orbit Fab to lead ESA backed ASTRAL refuelling demo in orbit

Orbit Fab has secured up to $3.8 million in funding through the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency's Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications to lead a European consortium that will advance satellite refuelling technology. The Advancing Satcom Technology with Refuelling and Logistics (ASTRAL) project will receive total UK funding of up to $3.8 million (3.3 million euros), with the first-stage contract valued at 1.3 million pounds (1.1 million euros) awarded under ESA's Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) Core Competitiveness program.

ASTRAL is planned to carry out an in-orbit experiment by 2028 to de-risk and validate Orbit Fab's RAFTI and GRASP refuelling interfaces during realistic