‘Space Tug’ Can Make Satellite Launches Cheaper, Experts Suggest

The concept of a space tug has been reportedly suggested as the economic solution for launching satellites to extreme high altitudes in space as well as mining asteroids. The existing hundreds of satellites in geostationary orbit are located around 27,000 miles above Earth, more than 10 times above the human inhabited International Space Station (ISS) located at a distance of 250 miles above. The traditional methods of sending the satellites are expensive, and the alternative cheaper method was recently suggested by an asteroid mining company.

The prevalent methods for sending satellites to the extreme altitudes in space include putting on an additional rocket or rocket stage to propel them into high orbit, or using a lightweight electric thruster on the rocket that pushes the satellite to its place slowly. However, as per reports, both are expensive options and also lead to lost time for the companies that have to wait to get the satellites up and working.  

A cost effective idea to transport the satellites reportedly came from Joel Sercel, the head of startup mining company TransAstra, and Phil Metzger, Florida Space Institute planetary scientist. The new idea would be based on the idea of a space tug, where spacecraft would fly to and fro from Earth, and then travel to a propellant depot. Moreover, the space tug method would not only be cost effective for sending satellites to high altitudes in space but also help in asteroid mining. "We agree that there is a business case," said Metzger. "You can recover the capital investment and deliver the spacecraft at a cost savings and make a profit."

So how will the system actually work? As per researchers, in a span of few decades, a mining spacecraft will travel to an asteroid and extract water from it, in addition to precious metals and materials. After completion of mission, the mining spacecraft would head back to the Earth-moon system with the water on board. Subsequently, a propellant depot located near Earth would accept the water and subsequently break it down to hydrogen and oxygen gas, both of which are good rocket fuels. As a result, the space launch companies will not require launch fuel in space due to the presence of the propellant depot.

The next phase of the procedure would involve the space tug, which will nab a launched satellite and bring it up to the propellant depot. Following which, the tug would zoom up the satellite to its intended location in the geosynchronous orbit. According to Sercel, the procedure in its entirety will bring down the costs related with the existing methods of transporting satellites to high orbits and accessing deep space. Another advantage associated with the technique is that we won't have to launch huge quantities of fuel out of the planet.