OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1) was a cancelled NASA spacecraft designed to test on-orbit refilling of satellites. It was previously 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] Its primary objective was the complex refueling of Landsat 7, a satellite launched in 1999. 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. This was expected to have been the first refueling of a satellite in space, and a demonstration of the potential to repair the thousands of active satellites in orbit and keep them in operation.[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]
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]
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]
