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Contract Announced / Orbit Fab

Orbit Fab wins ESA/UKSA ASTRAL refuelling contract

The ARTES Core Competitiveness award funds the first stage of ASTRAL, Europe’s first planned in-orbit xenon refuelling demonstration. Orbit Fab leads a consortium including KISPE, Gate Space, Blackswan Space and Indra Deimos. The experiment will validate RAFTI and GRASP interfaces in a realistic docking and propellant-transfer scenario by 2028.

Why it matters

First European flight path for Orbit Fab’s interfaces strengthens the dual US/UK commercial and sovereign offering.

The numbers

Contract
£1.3M

The contract for the first stage of the mission, worth £1.3m (€1.1m)

Source
Contract
~$3.8M

up to $3.8 million

Source

Coverage

1 report

  1. Orbit Fab ·

    Orbit Fab wins ESA funding to lead “ASTRAL” - a European landmark in-orbit refuelling mission

    Orbit Fab was awarded the first stage (£1.3 m / €1.1 m) of up to $3.8 million UK/ESA funding under ARTES to lead the ASTRAL in-orbit refuelling experiment. The mission, planned for 2028, will demonstrate RAFTI and GRASP docking and multi-propellant transfer (including xenon) with European partners.

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AI-assisted summary of 1 report; numbers link to their source. Spot an error? Tell us.

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The ARTES Core Competitiveness award funds the first stage of ASTRAL, Europe’s first planned in-orbi

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