Spaceium, a startup that wants to build refueling depots in orbit, is opening its OpenPort refueling interface to the wider industry. Any company can now build the hardware and license it for $1. The nominal fee reflects the company’s business plan: Spaceium intends to earn its revenue by selling fuel to spacecraft, not by selling ports.
Cofounder and CEO Ashi Dissanayake told Payload that Spaceium does not see itself as a port business and is not trying to profit from the interface itself. The goal, he said, is to help develop a broader space economy in which any spacecraft can be refueled.
Why on-orbit refueling matters
A satellite that exhausts its propellant in orbit generally reaches the end of its useful life, even if the rest of its systems still work. Critics of this model often liken it to discarding a car whenever the fuel light comes on. Refueling companies aim to change that. According to the source, the ability to refuel could allow satellites to:
- operate for as long as their electronics and other systems keep working;
- maneuver without having to conserve propellant;
- travel farther into deep space without carrying all of their fuel at launch.
A port that works in both directions
OpenPort is androgynous, meaning fuel can flow through it in either direction. A single design can therefore serve as both pump and receiving port, rather than requiring a separate part for each role. Spaceium says this is central to building a network of refuelers, because a traveling fuel depot could take on fuel from Spaceium and then pass it on to other spacecraft.
Cofounder and CTO Reza Fetanat said the bidirectional design came from a customer request, one of several requirements the company gathered from customers.
The port is also fuel-agnostic. It does not add a component to a spacecraft. Instead, it replaces the port normally used to load propellant on the ground before launch, a part that otherwise becomes dead weight once the vehicle is in orbit.
Competition and next steps
Orbit Fab, another company aiming to become an orbital fuel supplier, already has its own refueling interface, RAFTI. It made the design available to industry under an open license in October 2021.
Spaceium has some flight experience. In November, a mission launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 tested a Spaceium-built robotic arm, which the company plans to use for refueling operations on its future depots.
The next milestone for OpenPort itself is a trip to the International Space Station in the first half of 2027. There, the hardware is scheduled to demonstrate xenon transfer on a spacecraft docked outside the station.
Source: payloadspace.com
