The European Space Agency has awarded D-Orbit a contract valued at approximately $130 million to develop and launch a spacecraft for the agency’s commercial in-orbit servicing mission called RISE.
The contract for the mission, the first under the ESA’s Space Safety Programme, calls for the demonstration of a spacecraft capable of engaging and controlling another space vehicle for repair, refueling, relocation, refurbishment, or disposal.
Developing a satellite platform called GEA that would demonstrate geostationary Earth orbit servicing capabilities is a key task under the contract, D-Orbit said in a statement Monday. D-Orbit will start offering commercial services to geostationary satellites after all safety and perfromance standards are verified through RISE. The Italian Space Agency is supporting the mission, along with counterparts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Luca Rossettini, D-Orbit CEO, said the company is looking forward to achieving new milestones in space logistics through the project. “Our collaboration with ESA and the support from the Italian government and the Italian Space Agency, along with our European partners, positions us at the forefront of pioneering in-orbit servicing,” he added.