A “grapple test” of the spacecraft’s robotic maintenance arm.
NASA
NASA is halting a $2 billion project to test satellite refueling in space, it announced Friday, after the agency’s auditor criticized the program’s prime contractor, Maxar, for poor performance.
The space agency said in a statement that the OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1) project is being canceled after nearly a decade of work.
NASA cited in a statement “ongoing technical, cost and timing challenges, as well as a broader community shift away from refueling unprepared spacecraft, which has resulted in a lack of a committed partner.”
“While we are disappointed by the decision to terminate the program, we are committed to helping NASA pursue potential new partnerships or alternative hardware applications as the shutdown completes,” Maxar Space spokesman Eric Glass said Systems, in a statement to CNBC.
NASA did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on how many employees will be affected by the cancellation of OSAM-1.
Maxar was taken private by private equity firm Advent International in May 2023 before being split into two companies: Maxar Intelligence, which focuses on satellite imagery and analysis, and Maxar Space Systems, which focuses on spacecraft manufacturing.
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NASA’s Goddard Center in Maryland led work on OSAM-1, with Maxar Space Systems as the project’s prime contractor under multiple contracts. OSAM-1 has been in development since 2015 with the aim of docking in orbit with the US Landsat 7 imaging satellite to repair and refuel the aging spacecraft, thereby extending its lifespan.
But OSAM-1 has fallen years behind schedule while the program’s costs to NASA have skyrocketed. In a scathing report in October, NASA’s inspector general found that “project cost increases and schedule delays were primarily due to Maxar’s poor performance,” while also noting that the agency’s Goddard Center also provided key parts of the development had to fight.
“NASA and Maxar officials have admitted that Maxar underestimated the scope and complexity of the work, lacked a comprehensive understanding of NASA’s technical requirements, and lacked the necessary expertise,” NASA’s inspector general said in its statement Report after a one-year audit.
The agency’s examiner noted that OSAM-1 is likely to “exceed both its current price tag of $2.05 billion and the December 2026 launch date,” which is already six years behind schedule. The report, citing Maxar officials, noted that the company “no longer benefits from work on OSAM-1” and, in NASA’s view, “no longer appears to be a high priority for Maxar in terms of the quality of its staffing.”
NASA’s cancellation of OSAM-1 comes months after Maxar delivered large parts of the spacecraft to Goddard in Maryland – but other key parts were not yet completed.
Satellite servicing is an emerging sub-sector of the space industry that has only recently become established Northrop Grummans Expansion Missions represent an early effort.
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2024-03-01 20:30:49
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