When it comes to space travel, the International Space Station and trips to the Sun, Moon, Mars or other places in the Universe, it is often necessary to refuel before a space vehicle returns to earth. As such, an orbital depot containing fuel has been placed near the earth or another body so that in orbit refueling can take place.
Without having this cache of fuel, resources required for space exploration and travel would be non-existent. Whereas, if these types of resource depots can be placed in the infrastructure, space exploration and space travel could become more prevalent in the future. As different types of depots are necessary depending on the type of fuel necessary to complete a mission, this is easier said than done.
Whether filling a type of spacecraft on location, or by tankers which can deliver fuel to spacecrafts while at specific locations in orbit, then depart, either would be beneficial in moving forward with several planned missions. In most designs and concepts, tankers would not necessarily need to be in close proximity to a space station.
While several entities could benefit from these in-orbit refueling concepts, most are a long way from becoming a reality. Still, commercial companies such as Virgin, government agencies, NASA and commercial satellites would benefit in different ways. For one thing, all these and possibly other entities would save a great deal of time and money once the depots were deployed in different areas of orbit.
In the case of satellites, the satellite would participate in a rendezvous with the depot, then transfer the propellant for continued orbital maneuvers. While there had been some plans for replenishing satellites while in geosynchronous orbit in 2011, all such plans have been canceled. As such, it is hoped that these new concepts may actually be able to complete such tasks.
While a separately launched spacecraft has the capability to deploy a fraction or all of transfer fuel with a crew or payload, doing so could have a major impact. For, whether using a smaller vehicle or covering a larger area, both could save space agencies a great deal of time and money. In addition, the size of a launch vehicle could be reduced which could also increase flight rates.
Concepts also suggest that depots could be placed behind the Moon to help reduce the costs of trips to the Moon or Mars. Whereas, others suggest that placing a depot in the orbit of Mars could also be useful with regards to reducing costs and making such missions more likely. For, only when crews can assure a safe return from Mars, the Moon or the Sun can such missions take place.
With rockets and spacecraft, fuel usually takes up about 1/2 or more of the total mass. Whereas, larger rocket engines often use a cryogenic fuel like liquid oxygen or hydrogen as an oxidizer due to the specific impulse possible. While this is the case, the transfer must be done with extreme condition to the probability of boil-off. As such, while these concepts are all plausible, it will most likely be quite some time before any such concepts are operable due to a number of cost and time efficiency factors.
Without having this cache of fuel, resources required for space exploration and travel would be non-existent. Whereas, if these types of resource depots can be placed in the infrastructure, space exploration and space travel could become more prevalent in the future. As different types of depots are necessary depending on the type of fuel necessary to complete a mission, this is easier said than done.
Whether filling a type of spacecraft on location, or by tankers which can deliver fuel to spacecrafts while at specific locations in orbit, then depart, either would be beneficial in moving forward with several planned missions. In most designs and concepts, tankers would not necessarily need to be in close proximity to a space station.
While several entities could benefit from these in-orbit refueling concepts, most are a long way from becoming a reality. Still, commercial companies such as Virgin, government agencies, NASA and commercial satellites would benefit in different ways. For one thing, all these and possibly other entities would save a great deal of time and money once the depots were deployed in different areas of orbit.
In the case of satellites, the satellite would participate in a rendezvous with the depot, then transfer the propellant for continued orbital maneuvers. While there had been some plans for replenishing satellites while in geosynchronous orbit in 2011, all such plans have been canceled. As such, it is hoped that these new concepts may actually be able to complete such tasks.
While a separately launched spacecraft has the capability to deploy a fraction or all of transfer fuel with a crew or payload, doing so could have a major impact. For, whether using a smaller vehicle or covering a larger area, both could save space agencies a great deal of time and money. In addition, the size of a launch vehicle could be reduced which could also increase flight rates.
Concepts also suggest that depots could be placed behind the Moon to help reduce the costs of trips to the Moon or Mars. Whereas, others suggest that placing a depot in the orbit of Mars could also be useful with regards to reducing costs and making such missions more likely. For, only when crews can assure a safe return from Mars, the Moon or the Sun can such missions take place.
With rockets and spacecraft, fuel usually takes up about 1/2 or more of the total mass. Whereas, larger rocket engines often use a cryogenic fuel like liquid oxygen or hydrogen as an oxidizer due to the specific impulse possible. While this is the case, the transfer must be done with extreme condition to the probability of boil-off. As such, while these concepts are all plausible, it will most likely be quite some time before any such concepts are operable due to a number of cost and time efficiency factors.
About the Author:
See our updated home page for more information about in orbit refueling. Find out everything you need to know from this website at http://www.csdc.space/about-csdc today.