Rapid ASCENT Propellant Loading Equipment

To make both responsive space access and tactically responsive space operational, TacRS programs such as VICTUS NOX and VICTUS HAZE have been or are being executed to leverage commercial capabilities and government initiatives. The 2023 VICTUS NOX mission involved a satellite and launch vehicle being rapidly mated, fueled, and launched to an orbit that was not known to the operators until the day before the launch. The VICTUS NOX satellite was built and tested in less than twelve months. After being put in storage until it was needed, it was flown to Vandenberg Space Force Base and readied for launch in under 60 hours. It was then placed into orbit 27 hours later and ready for operations 37 hours after that. There were many lessons learned that can be applied to further reduce the timeframes to achieve rapid capability on-orbit. The launch phase is targeted to be less than 24 hours total from the alert phase.One critical area within the VICTUS NOX 60-hour spacecraft launch readiness timeline was propellant loading which took ~22 hours to complete, rendering the 24 hour target from integration to launch an impossible task. A key reason for this extended timeline was the stringent safety protocols required for handling hydrazine. During hydrazine loading of spacecraft, ground operations must be halted with the spacecraft potentially moved to a different facility and/or containment area for loading to occur. Benchmark Space Systems (BSS) is an end-to-end service provider of in-space mobility products including the complete lifecycle of chemical propulsion systems and propellant loading at launch sites. Fueling of spacecraft is considered a highly specialized operation that most satellite integrators and operators are not equipped to do, which is why BSS currently offers it as a service to its mission partners, enabling spacecraft operators to focus their energy on the mission itself, and eliminating the need invest in development of dedicated staff and equipment for periodic or infrequent use. Responsive space access needs propellants that are compatible with strict, often shifting and very short fueling time slots, and a variety of launch vehicle requirements targeted at propellant safety. Non-toxic propellants are expected to play an important role in responsive space access. BSS has heritage with non-toxic propellants using High-Test Peroxide (HTP) and ASCENT and has an active contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop, test, and commercialize 22N and 100N+ ASCENT propulsion thrusters and associated subsystems. BSS proposes to manufacture and demonstrate mission-ready ASCENT GSE to support future ASCENT propellant loading with system requirements that enable rapid timelines in support of TacRS missions.