Photo by Orbit Fab

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) awarded Orbit Fab a £1.3 million ($1.7 million) Major Project grant under their National Space Innovation Programme. This grant will fund the design of a high-pressure variant of the RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface) refueling port, set to be available in 2025.

Separately, Orbit Fab has secured additional contracts, including £165,000 ($213,000) with the European Space Agency (ESA) via City University London, and a £500,000 ($646,000) contract as the prime for the phase 1 design of a mission to refuel a future UK Active Debris Removal spacecraft.

Orbit Fab has tripled the size of its UK workforce to 15 and will be opening a new office in Harwell, Oxfordshire. This expansion will continue to support the development and operation of orbital refuelling services, essential for national security, telecommunications, earth observation, and scientific missions in space.

“Expanding our UK office and embarking on these new projects is a significant milestone for Orbit Fab. With the support of the UKSA and our partners, we are enhancing the UK’s space capabilities and setting new standards for sustainable space operations. The projects led by our UK team will enable us to refuel more satellites and customers than ever before,” Daniel Faber, CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit Fab, said in a statement.

Orbit Fab Chief Engineer Kevin Smith will be joining Via Satellite’s Future Space Economy webcast, “Space Robotics: Leading Autonomous Systems for Building, Capturing, and Servicing” on Thursday, August 1st. Smith and other guest speakers will highlight breakthroughs in building autonomous robots that inspect, service, assemble, build, and refuel in orbit. The webcast is free to attend. Register here to access the live broadcast!