On orbit serving — a step towards further exploration of near-Earth space

Abstract

The purpose of the publication is to draw the attention of the Ukrainian scientific and technical community to the development of a new area of activity in outer space - orbital service. The content, technical and economic preconditions and competitive advantages of its development in Ukraine are outlined. Definitions of orbital services such as customer inspection, orbital (inter-orbital) transportation, refueling and resupply, upgrade, assembly, collision avoidance are given. The competence of Ukrainian enterprises in this direction has been analyzed. The expediency and possibility of developing the direction of orbital servicing for further exploration of near space, in particular, the developments of Ukrainian enterprises for the development and manufacture of systems for rendezvous and docking of spacecraft, have been substantiated. Scenarios of interaction between a space service vehicle and a client vehicle in near-earth orbit are described. The basic requirements for carrying out of Servicer and the Client autonomous proximity operations, as well as the operation of seizing the client machine are given. Proposals for the functionality of spacecraft for the provision of orbital space services are presented, it is proposed to consider the need to create specialized cargo modules and examples of their application in orbit are given. The tendencies of the approach to the creation of spacecraft structures adapted for in-orbit service are considered. The predicted volume of orbital service operations by type of service and with orbits is given. Provided information about the key players in a given market. The design of Servicer, which is being developed by Kurs NPK JSC, Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, for the provision of transport services, is presented. The specified features of its construction in general and the composition of the modules, as well as the possibility of further expanding the functionality of the Servicer.