Orbit Fab

Based in California, OrbitFab focuses on the development of a spacecraft propellant supply chain. Dubbed The Gas Station in Space, the company provides refueling services to spacecraft via depots in LEO, GEO, and cis-lunar orbits.

The company has developed what it claims to be the first commercially available in-space fuelling port, the Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI) service valve that enables on-orbit refueling of spacecraft, which can also be substituted for existing satellite fill-in and drain valves. In 2021, Orbit Fab launched its first operational fuel depot, Tanker-001 Tenzing aboard SpaceX Falcon 9, which stores a green propellant in sun-synchronous orbit. The company announced that it will provide Hydrazine refueling service in orbit beginning in 2025.

Key customers and partnerships

In 2020 the company won a USD 3 million contract from the US Air Force to flight qualify the RAFTI valve which was developed in partnership with US Space Force. The RAFTI provides on-orbit combat logistics for both US Air and Space Force. Orbit Fab was also awarded a grant in the amount of USD 250,000 by National Science Foundation (NSF) to test a docking system for refueling satellites.

Orbit Fab has entered into several other commercial partnerships with companies such as Astroscale (January 2022), Benchmark Space Systems (February 2021), Dawn Aerospace (November 2021), Phase Four (January 2022), and Neutron Star Systems (April 2022) to provide orbit refueling services. As of April 2023, the company had at least four fuel shuttle missions set to launch over the next three years, including a trio of defense contracts valued at USD 21 million. The government missions featured SpaceWERX-funded rendezvous and proximity operations, a four-year Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract to provide hydrazine refueling services toSpace Force satellites in GEO, and a STRATFI initiative to develop docking depots.