OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1) was a 2016-2024 conceptual NASA mission and spacecraft designed to test on-orbit refilling of satellites. The program was cancelled in 2024, two years ahead of its planned launch date. It was initially known as Restore-L.[1] [2] [3]
Originally scheduled to launch in 2020,[4] its launch at the time of cancellation was planned for no earlier than 2026.[5] The primary objective of the concept mission and spacecraft was the complex refueling of Landsat 7, a satellite launched in 1999, that was not designed for on-orbit servicing. This would have involved grasping the satellite with a mechanical arm, gaining access to the satellite's fuel tank by cutting through insulation and wires and unscrewing a bolt, and then attaching a hose to pump in hydrazine fuel. At the time the mission was conceived, it was expected to be the first refueling of a satellite in space, and a demonstration of the potential to repair some of the thousands of active satellites in orbit and keep them in operation for a longer time.[1] Because the satellites now in space were not designed to be serviced, there are significant challenges to doing so successfully.[1] [2]
OSAM-1's second objective was to deploy a separate robot called SPIDER (Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot) to build a new structure in space. Using robots to build and assemble new structural components from scratch would be an important step towards a type of space-based construction that had been impossible to date.[1]
The OSAM-1 spacecraft was to include:
In 2016, NASA's Restore-L satellite was intended to refuel Landsat 7.[4]
In 2020, SPIDER was added and the name was changed from Restore-L to OSAM-1.
On 1 March 2024, NASA announced that OSAM-1 had been cancelled due to "continued technical, cost, and schedule challenges, and a broader community evolution away from refueling unprepared spacecraft."[6]
At cancellation in 2024, about $2 billion had been invested in the project.[7]
A subsequent mission, OSAM-2, would have also had two robotic arms.[8] OSAM-2 would have used ModuLink software which is based on xLink.[8] In 2023, NASA decided to conclude the OSAM-2 project without proceeding to a flight demonstration.[9]