Semi Trucks In Space

Scientists Are Building Space Transport Vehicles for the Beyond-Earth Economy An animation of Firefly Aerospace’s Elytra vehicle. CREDIT: FIREFLY AEROSPACE In the expanding economy of space, rockets often steal the spotlight. The stars of the show are SpaceX’s Starship, Blue Origin’s New Glenn and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, which blasted off for the first time earlier this month. These massive craft are designed to carry large amounts of cargo and deliver it into low-Earth orbit. But blasting off is just the beginning of building a beyond-Earth economy. Once satellites and other types of cargo reach space, they’ll need to be moved around. This week, we look at orbital-transfer vehicles, the “semi trucks of space” that are being designed to move space-cargo between orbits or even transport it deeper into space. "We should view the rocket as like the cargo ship regularly coming to port, and then we should have a semi truck that lives in space and takes that cargo everywhere else.” — Robert Carlisle, co-founder of startup Argo Space Transit is a crucial topic for a new lunar economy, according to scientists, entrepreneurs and policymakers. And orbital-transfer vehicles could ultimately open the door for other sectors of the emerging space economy on the moon and beyond, such as space tourism or extraterrestrial mining. Several large companies are working to develop orbital-transfer vehicles. Blue Ring, a vehicle made by Blue Origin, will offer transportation, refueling and more. And Northrop Grumman is building what it calls Mission Robotic Vehicles, which offer services such as equipping satellites with propulsion “pods” to extend their use. Startups are also getting involved: Calif.-based Impulse Space in November launched its first transport vehicle—a craft called Mira, about the size of a washing machine—into low-Earth orbit on a SpaceX rocket. The company is planning more missions and developing another transport vehicle, called Helios. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is developing a space-transport and service craft called Elytra and plans to launch the vehicle on one of its rockets for the first time in 2024. Representatives of the company said the craft could shift around vehicles in low-Earth orbit, where numerous companies are building up large fleets of satellites. Still, much remains to be done before orbital-transfer vehicles transform the space economy. Engineers working on these vehicles still need to demonstrate their craft can fly as designed, and several large rockets that would blast payloads into space to begin with aren’t proven yet. More on this topic: 🎥 This startup aims to rival SpaceX with reusable rockets. (Watch) 🎧 How scientists aim to build an economy beyond Earth. (Listen) Some space companies are struggling to meet lofty goals. (Read) 🤔 What prospects do you see for the growth of a beyond-Earth economy in the future? Send me your thoughts, questions and predictions by hitting "reply" to this email.