A “grapple test” of the OSAM-1 spacecraft’s robotic servicing arm.
NASA
NASA is shutting down a $2 billion project to check satellite refueling in space, it announced Friday, after the agency’s auditor criticized this system’s lead contractor, Maxar, citing “poor performance.”
The space agency said in an announcement that the OSAM-1 — On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 — project was being discontinued after nearly a decade of labor.
NASA cited in its announcement “continued technical, cost, and schedule challenges, and a broader community evolution away from refueling unprepared spacecraft, which has led to a scarcity of a committed partner.”
The agency said in an announcement to CNBC that about 450 personnel are supporting OSAM-1, but that NASA “is committed to supporting project workforce per plan through fiscal yr 2024.”
“While we’re disenchanted by the choice to discontinue this system, we’re committed to supporting NASA in pursuing potential latest partnerships or alternative hardware uses as they complete the shutdown,” Maxar Space Systems spokesperson Eric Glass said in an announcement to CNBC.
Maxar was taken private by private equity firm Advent International in May 2023 before being split into two businesses: Maxar Intelligence, focused on satellite imagery and analytics, and Maxar Space Systems, focused on spacecraft manufacturing.
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NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was leading the work on OSAM-1, with Maxar Space Systems because the project’s prime contractor under multiple deals. OSAM-1 has been in development since 2015, with the goal of docking with the U.S.-owned Landsat 7 imagery satellite in orbit, to repair and refuel the aging spacecraft to increase its life.
But OSAM-1 has fallen years behind schedule, while this system’s cost to NASA soared. In a scathing October report, NASA’s Inspector General “found that project cost increases and schedule delays were primarily on account of the poor performance of Maxar,” while noting that the agency’s Goddard center has also struggled with key parts of development.
“NASA and Maxar officials acknowledged that Maxar underestimated the scope and complexity of the work, lacked full understanding of NASA technical requirements, and were deficient in vital expertise,” NASA’s Inspector General said in its report, following a yearlong audit.
The agency’s auditor noted that OSAM-1 was prone to each “exceed its current $2.05 billion price tag and the December 2026 launch date,” which was already six years behind schedule. The report, citing Maxar representatives, noted the corporate was “now not benefiting from their work on OSAM-1” and, in NASA’s view, it now not appeared “to be a high priority for Maxar by way of the standard of its staffing.”
NASA’s cancellation of OSAM-1 comes months after Maxar delivered major segments of the spacecraft to Goddard in Maryland — but other key parts were yet to be finished.
Satellite servicing is a nascent sub-sector of the space industry that is only recently begun to be proven out, with Northrop Grumman’s extension missions representing an early effort.
