Project Fielder: An innovative method of satellite recovery

“Space Forge正在寻求推动下一代航天工业的可持续性。虽然空间资产及其相关环境的利用正在以惊人的速度增长，但可持续地利用空间资产的能力却滞后。目前，处于生命末期的卫星，要么被操纵进入最后的下降，在地球大气层中燃烧，要么被定位到墓地轨道。Space Forge正在开发一种低成本、可靠的方法，将卫星送回地球，以便对它们进行维护、修理和升级。目前，根据任务的复杂性和要求，卫星的制造成本在每公斤10万美元到100万美元之间，而发射成本在每公斤5万美元到5万美元之间。大多数任务在卫星燃料耗尽或关键部件失效导致能力严重丧失时结束。此外，由于许多任务持续数年至数十年，卫星最大的问题是过时；旧的卫星被新部件取代，由于微陨石对太阳能电池阵列的破坏，光学元件的原子氧侵蚀以及由于数千个昼夜循环造成的电池容量损失，卫星的性能缓慢退化。卫星与其他高科技的不同之处在于提供定期维护的极端困难，即使在像美国航天飞机这样的载人交会能力可用的情况下，这也是复杂的。许多公司正在研究卫星在轨加油的方法，但由于交会所需燃料的数量和对接的复杂性，这种方法除了对最大的卫星以外，不太可能经济。没有什么可以替代将卫星送回其制造商，由其亲自维护、修理和升级；但这需要一种成本低、可靠的返回地球的方法，而且不会对卫星造成重大损害。Space Forge正在为中小型卫星开发一种回收机制，以使下一代航天工业能够持续发展。”

"Space Forge are seeking to drive the next generation of sustainability in the space industry. Whilst the utilisation of space assets and its associated environment is growing at a significant pace, the ability to do so sustainably is lagging. Currently at their end of life, satellites are either manoeuvred into a final descent to burn up in Earth's atmosphere or positioned into a graveyard orbit. Space Forge is developing a low cost and reliable method to return satellites back to Earth so that they can be maintained, repaired and upgraded.Satellites currently cost between $100k/kg and $1m/kg to build depending upon the complexity and requirements of the mission, compared to between $5k/kg and $50k/kg for launch. Most missions end when either the satellite runs out of fuel or a critical component fails leading to severe loss of capability. In addition, as many missions last multiple years to decades, the biggest issue for a satellite is obsolescence; where older satellites are overtaken by those with newer components and there are slow degradations due to micrometeorite damage on solar arrays, atomic oxygen erosion of optics and capacity loss in batteries due to thousands of day/night cycles. What sets satellites apart from other high technologies is the extreme difficulty in providing regular maintenance, which was complex even when manned rendezvous capabilities like the US Space Shuttle were available. Many companies are working on methods for in-orbit re-fuelling of satellites but this is unlikely to be economical for anything but the largest satellites due the amount of fuel required for rendezvous and the complexity of docking. There is no substitute for returning a satellite back to its makers for hands-on maintenance, repair and upgrade; but this requires a low cost and reliable return to Earth method that does not significantly damage the satellite. Space Forge is developing a return mechanism for small to medium class satellites to enable the next generation of sustainability in the space industry."