Catching the Wave: A Unique Opportunity for the Development of an On-Orbit Satellite Servicing Infrastructure

On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) has been a progressively researched topic in satellite operations for almost two decades. However, OOS has yet to be developed due to the high costs and technical requirements associated with proposed designs along with the state of the satellite market over that period of time. Refueling commercial geosynchronous communications satellites at the end-of-life offers a unique low-cost low-risk opportunity for the development of an initial on-orbit servicing market. By evaluating the feasibility of end- of-life refueling from the customer perspective, on-orbit servicing can be evaluated without the need to design and evaluate a servicing infrastructure. In this analysis the feasibility of end-of-life refueling is strictly based on the price for refueling, which is dictated by the service provider. Consequently the customer's decision to service or not service is based on the service provider's asking refueling price and the customer's own unique economic restrictions. In examining the end-of-life refueling case for two real world communications satellites, it was discovered that there is a sufficient serviceable market and benefit for potential customers to justify the development of end-of-life refueling.