{"id":31682,"date":"2020-02-05T22:51:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T22:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/05\/the-pentagon-wants-a-roadside-assistance-service-in-space\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:39:44","slug":"the-pentagon-wants-a-roadside-assistance-service-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2020\/02\/05\/the-pentagon-wants-a-roadside-assistance-service-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pentagon wants a roadside assistance service in space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Defense wants physical access to its satellites in geostationary orbit, and it\u2019s not hard to understand why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satellites are valuable due to their unique location \u2014 hundreds to tens of thousands of miles above the Earth \u2014 where they can produce unique imagery of the surface or extend communications to far-flung locales. But that unique vantage also puts limits on orbiting satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because they are largely inaccessible, operators can\u2019t switch out broken or outdated hardware, and they can\u2019t even refuel them. Whatever hardware and fuel is on a satellite at launch is all it\u2019s got for its entire life span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if there was a service dedicated to efforts in space<\/a> that allows the military to access, repair and tow its on-orbit satellites?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what the Defense Innovation Unit wants. The Pentagon technology hub has issued a solicitation for a low-cost logistics service that can provide physical access to military satellites all the way from low-Earth orbit to geostationary orbit, or even cislunar orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\t