Astroscale U.S. is working to make satellites last longer in space. Its first client? The U.S. military.

At the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, the Denver-based company gave a preview on Tuesday of the historic mission it plans to complete next year. Astroscale will conduct two refueling operations for the U.S. Department of Defense.

It’ll be the first refueling of a U.S. military satellite in space and the first hydrazine refueling operation done above geospatial orbit — the highest level above Earth.

The landmark refueling is important for the military to create more mission flexibility and keep satellites in operation longer, Clare Martin, executive vice president of Astroscale U.S., said in a press briefing Tuesday.

“​​It’s about enabling sustained maneuverability, extending the life of critical space assets and giving our national security community the ability to adapt quickly” Martin said.

Astroscale is a Japanese space debris company founded in 2013 with its U.S. subsidiary based in Denver, which has grown to nearly 100 employees, according to its website.

It’s focused on implementing a more sustainable space ecosystem as the commercial space boom has led to a proliferation of junk in orbit, whether it’s by extending the life of satellites sent in space or actively removing debris.

The company debuted its U.S. office off of Santa Fe Drive and Evans Avenue in 2023, selecting the Denver area due to Colorado’s robust aerospace workforce and connections to giants like Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman and a network of smaller space companies.

The refueling satellite is being designed and developed within Colorado, said Ian Thomas, program manager for the Astroscale U.S. Refueler. The bus will be built by Texas-based Southwest Research Institute.

The Space Force awarded Astroscale a $25 million contract to build a refueling prototype by 2026, but this award will transition that project into full operational demonstration, the company said in a news release.

The updated contract for the refueler is worth $61 million, company representatives said during the press briefing, which includes the cost of hydrazine fuel.

The larger contract was done with the help of an OTA, or Other Transaction Agreement, the Department of Defense’s alternative contracting method to work with more startups that haven’t traditionally been hired for the military.

The refueler will weigh 300 kg, which will be loaded with propellant. The company is setting a 45-day window to get from launch to orbit, Thomas said. Then there will be a six-month period to conduct various refueling operations.

Once it reaches geospatial orbit, Astroscale’s spacecraft will “capture” the military satellite using advanced sensors and docking systems.

It will then load the fuel onto the ship using a refueling interface. Once the refueler fills the satellite, it will travel to a safe distance to conduct a leak check.

For the second part of the mission, Astroscale will travel to a fuel depot where it will refill its own tank.

The fuel depot, akin to a space gas station, and the refueling interface are being developed by Orbit Fab, another company based in Colorado. Orbit Fab was founded in 2018 in San Francisco and moved to a 56,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette in 2021.

In the future, after refilling its own tank, Astroscale will be able to go to any of its clients orbiting around the globe — military or commercial.

“How many times we can conduct refueling really is about the availability of fuel and the availability of clients within the vicinity,” Thomas said. “So it can scale pretty fast.”

Currently, the U.S. military is Astroscale’s only customer under contract, Martin said.

The company hopes the mission will show how refueling is possible in the furthest places within Earth’s orbit, and that its doable many times with one spacecraft.

“This is a repeatable, scalable infrastructure for the future of in-space logistics, and it is happening now,” Martin said.