Japanese startup to develop refueling satellite for U.S. Space Force

Pie in the sky idea

YrralToday  06:51 am JST

Pie in the sky idea

those aren't pies Larry, they're satellites.....

Due to the difficulty of supplying fuel to satellites in space after their launch, many of them end up becoming space debris or burn up as they enter the atmosphere once their operations end.

Having the capability to refuel satellites is expected to help extend their service lives and reduce space junk.

Japanese expertise helping clean up the world

Great idea! Be nice to see it in action and on time too!

Woo! Some exciting technologies!

Pie in the sky idea

How so? The Space Shuttle was able to grab satellites in orbit with the Canadian mechanical. A Space Shuttle mission repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. It is certainly within the real of the possible. Incidentally other US firms are working on the same capability.

I wonder if they can de-fuel the bad guy's satellites?

This is only the beginning. Future space stations will have their own craft that remain in space, are serviced at the space station and will need refueling for their lifetime. Developing an orbiting fueling capacity will also be used for craft transiting to and from the moon and to mars as well.

It all begins somewhere and this being the first real refueling attempt of anything in orbit, is but the start of the road ahead. Japan being onboard from the start is a good omen for the future of Japan in space. They just need to use this momentum and build on it, perhaps by designing a modular craft for personnel, cargo and even for retrieving old satellites and junk for reprocessing and recycling in orbit. And they will be able to refuel this "space craft" as needed.

Well done Japan.

Might be difficult to pop in Idemitsu point card,then Rakuten card,then cash,then do the fruit machine lottery bit afterwards to get a box of tissues in zero gravity.

No mention of what the ‘fuel’ might be.

To the Japanese startup:

Please beef up your cyber-security and do extensive background checks on all those you hire or do business with.

We don't want a certain communist parasite and their little wumaos to steal your tech knowledge.

The US already has NASA to handle these issues and there's some private firms like SpaceX working with them.

This 'Space Force' is a Farce, an Orwellian ego-enhancer for a Caligula traitor dictator who never was a legit POTUS. And as a Cold War veteran who served so that America wouldn't fall for this Orwellian newspeak crap, I refuse to even recognize that as an armed forces branch. It's total bull.

What the hell are they defending against anyway? Pirates from planet Pluto? God? After all the blasphemous lip TrashTrump has said and done he'd better be afraid of God.