Matthew Nelson
Spaceflight agreed to field an operational fuel depot aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to the Earth's orbit in 2021 as part of a partnership with Orbit Fab, C4ISRNET reported Monday.
Tanker 001 Tenzing is built to carry out refueling services for compatible space vehicles via the Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface.
Orbit Fab used RAFTI on-orbit by transferring water to the International Space Station during a private demonstration.
The company will also carry out flight qualification efforts for RAFTI under a $3M contract from the U.S. Air Force.
Founded in 2018, Orbit Fab offers satellite propellant services in Earth orbit. The company also seeks to support communications, Earth observation providers and various markets such as manufacturing and space tourism.
