Orbit Fab recognized as 2023 Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

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Rendering of an Orbit Fab fuel shuttle docked with an orbiting satellite equipped with a RAFTI refueling port.

Image credit: Orbit Fab.

The World Economic Forum has listed orbiting spacecraft refueling company Orbit Fab as one of its 100 Most Promising Tech Pioneers of 2023. These are innovative companies that are tackling issues such as sustainability, climate change and healthcare . The World Economic Forum is an international organization focused on public-private cooperation, best known for its annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland.

We are thrilled to welcome Orbit Fab to our cohort of 2023 technology pioneers, Verena Kuhn, head of innovator communities at the World Economic Forum (WEF), said in a press release. Orbit Fab and his fellow pioneers are at the forefront of the innovation and disruption needed to help us solve the world’s most pressing problems. We look forward to their input into the content work of the Forum that brings together the public and private sectors to address these global issues.”

Being recognized by the prestigious World Economic Forum is a big deal for Orbit Fab, whose trademark slogan is, gas stations in space.

Orbit Fab is thrilled to be part of this select group of technology leaders around the world who are making a difference in so many ways, Adam Harris, the company’s chief commercial officer, told SpaceRef. Companies focused on a wide range of missions in space, from cleaning up and clearing orbital space debris to manufacturing in space, all need space fuel to keep their missions going. Orbit Fab already has contracts with many of these innovators for our supply depots and shuttles. We look forward to collaborating with many of our fellow technology pioneers in the months and years ahead.

The opportunity for such collaborations is an important part of pioneering WEF technology. Through his inclusion, Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber has been invited to work with global leaders through the WEF to help address key industry and societal issues. Technology pioneers are also included in WEF events and discussions throughout the year.

Orbit Fab has made significant progress in its quest to fuel satellites and other spacecraft in orbit. For example, its RAFTI (Rapid Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface) refueling interface is designed to dock with spacecraft without requiring the help of a robotic arm. Meanwhile, Orbit Fab has already completed two successful missions in orbit, Harris explained. One supported the International Space Station and the other was the June 2021 launch of the company’s first resupply depot, Tenzing. The company has also booked four fuel shuttle missions to launch over the next three years, Harris added. They include three defense contracts worth $21 million that will allow the US government to resupply, reuse and maneuver spacecraft around debris, theaters of military engagement and adversary threats. The trio of government missions features SpaceWERX [the Space Force agency that fosters technological innovation]funded rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) scheduled for early 2024, a four-year Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract to refuel Space Force satellites with hydrazine in GEO, and a STRATFI [Strategic Funding Increase] initiative to develop docking depots, Harris told SpaceRef. Orbit Fab also signed a major GEO in-orbit refueling commercial agreement last year to refuel the Astroscales fleet of Life Extension In-Orbit Service Vehicles (LEXI), which will be equipped with integrated RAFTI refueling interfaces.

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