BENGALURU: When OrbitAid’s 25-kg Ayulsat lifts off aboard Isro’s PSLV-C62 on Monday, it will be carrying more than a technology demonstration. If the mission succeeds as planned, India will take one step forward towards becoming only the second country in the world to have demonstrated on-orbit satellite refuelling, a capability so far claimed only by China.China is believed to have carried out an on-orbit refuelling demonstration last year, though details remain limited and official disclosures sparse. No other spacefaring nation, including the US, has publicly demonstrated the technology in orbit. US firm Astroscale is also developing a refuelling technology, but is yet to launch.Ayulsat won’t exactly demonstrate a full on-orbit re-fuelling. It is designed as a target satellite to validate fuel transfer in the space environment.
Unlike more complex servicing missions involving two spacecraft, OrbitAid’s first step focuses on internal refuelling within a single satellite, allowing engineers to study how fluids behave in microgravity under real orbital conditions.OrbitAID founder and CEO Sakthikumar R, in an exclusive interview with TOI, said the first refuelling operation is expected to take place within four hours of launch, followed by multiple refuelling cycles over the course of the mission.
“These transfers will be carried out under varying thermal conditions, pressure levels and eclipse phases to build a detailed operational handbook for future missions,” he said.The company has spent several years testing the technology on the ground and in zero-gravity environments before committing to an orbital demonstration. OrbitAid conducted high-pressure and low-pressure fluid transfer tests using propellants of different viscosities, followed by zero-gravity experiments in the US that successfully demonstrated bubble-free fuel transfer, a critical requirement for safe refuelling in space.Beyond fuel transfer, the mission also validates OrbitAid’s proprietary docking and refuelling interface, developed to support future in-orbit servicing missions. Sakthikumar said: “…The interface aligns with emerging international standards and has been developed in consultation with CONFERS, an industry-led initiative focused on best practices for rendezvous and proximity operations, on-orbit satellite servicing, and in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing.
”If Ayulsat performs as expected, OrbitAid plans to follow it up with a chaser satellite within six to eight months. “That mission would demonstrate close-proximity operations and, later, docking and fuel transfer between two spacecraft, a key step towards extending the operational life of satellites already in orbit,” Sakthikumar said.The implications are significant. On-orbit refuelling could reduce the need for costly satellite replacements, allow spacecraft stranded in sub-optimal orbits to be recovered, and enable longer missions for strategic and commercial satellites alike.For India, the mission also marks a shift in how advanced space capabilities are being developed. Ayulsat is being flown by a private startup, highlighting the growing role of Indian industry in frontier space technologies.As Sakthikumar put it, replacement satellites are expensive, but servicing an existing one can dramatically change mission economics. Jan 12 will determine whether India can now claim a place in one of the most exclusive clubs in spaceflight.
