The era of satellite-repairing robots is here 

Do you think this technology could cause harm?

"Make space sustainable for all future generations" - I'm so on board with this idea. Making sure we figure out a way to repair or remove satellites and debris is obviously something we need desperately, and I can't wait to see how the industry progresses! It feels like it's going to bring about a lot of interesting ideas and new technologies. Great video as always Verge Science team!

1. satellite repair drones are close to becoming a reality. 2. hubble telescope got several repairs and upgrades at the hands of astronauts. 3. new satellites could be designed for grappling and service by robots. 4. however, making craft more accessible and modifiable introduces risk of sabotage. 5. these satelites would need a degree of accessibility while keeping core functions tamper-proof.

*Space Wall-E incoming*

No! You have to use tractor beams! TRACTOR BEAMS!

The lady in blue is using Samsung ' live focus video'. She could have toned downed the strength!

I'm really excited to see how satellite designs will change once we start building satellites from 3d printed or scavenged parts in space, since then we won't need to worry about the satellites needing to survive the forces of launch.

You need a dedicated rocket launch just to try to repair or update a satellite.. I think in low earth orbit is simpler to deorbit the satellite and replace it with a new one. Maybe this approch makes sense for those very big and valuable satellites that are orbiting further from earth..

Where can we get that model kit?

With the cost of launches going down. I think the era of Satellite repair just went out of business. If it only costs you a few million to launch a new one, why fix the old one. I mean the possible fixes that a repair can do is really limited anyway unless you launch a repair satellite with specifically the parts you want to replace. I think building a communication backup to reflash firmware would be easier than having another satellite dock or If you run out of fuel, what the heck were you even doing in the planning stages. Everything else basically would require parts and if it needed parts it needed another launch anyway. When the space shuttle was around it was quite expensive so the repair bay to repair satellites made sense. However with current technology to make satellites smaller (and thus launches cheaper) along with cheaper launch platforms the entire concept of repairing in orbit doesn't really make sense than just launching a replacement.

4:18 you listening, Elon?

Verge Science and Space♥️

Sounds complicated. I feel like at that point you might as well have the new satellite take the place of the failing system. ie: Satellite gyroscopes fail, send a 'repair' satellite with functioning gyroscopes, connect it to the old satellite, now you have a satellite with access to working gyroscopes. I'm not a rocket scientist though, so it will be interesting to see if a repair system comes to fruition in the near future.

Hi, I’ve been following The Verge and it’s diverse content for more than a year now. I love most of the content due to it’s the dedication put on each aspect, from video and graphics to the research efforts reflected on script. Because I haven’t found anything similar yet, I wish there was a localized version for viewers here in Japan; even if it’s through subtitles.

Great information! Thank you for sharing.

Oh my God she forgot the most important part. The helium balloon. Smh. It's not going to stay up there without a balloon.

I don't get the supposed risk of this. Isn't everything in space a weapon? Anything traveling at orbital speeds can destroy whatever it encounters. As Isaac Arthur says, "There is no unarmed spacecraft".

Good timing, just seen an article this afternoon about two inactive satellites colliding in orbit above the Pittsburgh region.

What are the strategies/designs for allowing the repair satellites to get close to the broken satellites? Particularly: will they have the ability to accelerate to catch up to various orbits? in other words: (how) do they move? And how did you not think to cover that seemingly crucial aspect at all?

Thanks DARPA

I was completely hypnotized waching this form start to finish.

Ground Control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, Can you hear me, Major Tom?

How does Verge make money?

Awesome great to see Altius on Verge.

hi Verge Science! what is the figure model that the presenter is building in the video? is it a product one can purchase online?

Something doesnt add up.. How do you keep so many spares on hand? Are we going to launch a repair satelite to repair a broken one? So its 2 satelites either way.. If we are going to have satelites stocked and usable multiple times.. Firstly fuel, eventually this will run out and it seems like this will be relatively fuel heavy. Secondly, how do you keep the spares safe from failing themselves..

what's that model you're building in the start? is it available for purchase?

What happen if we should service the service satellite?

Loren!

USB -> Universal Satellite Bus?

The good question is, is it not saver and easier just to orbit another satellite because one satellite fixing satellite is as good as having a fixing agent that fixes 1 satellite..

Most satellites are disabled by the depletion of propellant or coolant. This cannot be easily solved as it is a physical limitation.

just thinking in the future, maybe we will have satellite recycling site in space (like putting ISS-size/MIR-size station or maybe the spacex's starship and pulling dead satellite to recycle/reuse the parts and fiery-dispose unused one)

How does this relate to the Orbital Express mission?

Launching these repair bots satellites will introduce more debris, won't it? Also, it seems like it would take a lot of fuel to dock with a satellite, repair or de-orbit it, and then get to another satellite in a different orbit. So at best I imagine these repair bots will only service a handful of satellites before they too need to be disposed of. Which makes the per-satellite cost of repairs pretty high, and no guarantee other aging components won't fail soon after. You'd probably be better off launching a brand new satellite with improved technology instead. Perhaps if there were a handful or orbiting hubs that could dispatch repair bots, and then recover them to re-fuel and re-equip for more missions, you could lower the cost of repairs. But putting that infrastructure in orbit would be a massive initial investment. I don't see this technology being practical anytime soon. Aside from proof-of-concept demonstrations, we're at least another whole generation of satellites away from this being a regular thing.

This will be a needed option I hope it's a success and then expanded to those rovers on Mars and if any in the Moon. And definitely beyond.

Where do i get this? the sticker satlellite model

I can really see a cascade event happening, a LOT of lose stuff orbiting up there.

What happens to the material that was used to make satellite when it de-orbit? Does it convert to gas or gone away for ever?!

How about removing the dead satt's & junk that will never work again, from orbit. then think about repairing the newly broke down ones.

What if the servicing satellite breaks?

How do you repair the repair robot when it break?

The visuals are amazing 👍👍

USB space port, neat. *Call it the USC! Universal Space Connector*

can one of these repair kepler?

this content is top tier

Nobody going to mention the exorbitant amount of Δv needed here?

Whats with the weird audio dub

Pretty sure there orbiting Sats that have nukes in them , once deployed shooting it down in your airspace is worst than letting it hit.

Robots are taking all of our jobs! Now what will all those people repairing our satellites do?

3 hours from now 2 satellites may collided over pittsburgh

this decade is going to be like the space race

Call me when you could fix a 2-step anti lag for my satellite. 🤪

What if the repair robot needs a repair?

Fixing what's in orbit is great for things like telescopes, but I like Elon's plan for Starlink. The sats are in a low enough orbit that if anything goes wrong and they can't communicate or maneuver them, they'll burn up relatively quickly. It's all but fool proof.

If someone with malicious intent wanted to launch a satellite that will collide with another satellite, why hasn't it happened yet? I think the same principle applies here. Strict regulations for companies solely dedicated to satellite repairs. Sidenote: there's a good anime that focus on space junk. It's called Planetes :)

Name: Verge science. Used metric: "MiLeS pEr hOuR" Well this on the verge of bad science... I'll let myself out.

Who will repair the satellite repairer?

yeah WILD TEMPATURE SWINGS ????

Curl's I like them

no one will ever get a satellite to repair another. refuel maybe, but you'd never have the bits it needs.

I'm down to live in a world where we battle with our satellites in space

Today, you really have to plan ahead when building your computer.

Astonout : "They took ur' job"

Okay great, future space junk will have a way to be dealt with. But what about current space junk??

0:32 What's with the Amber Alert?

Metal Earth ad

i thought satellites don't fail, they EOL.

Calling OneWebs constellation of 100 HUGE..

at this point you might as well send a repair bot with your satellite so it can fix any problem there is no way you land on satellite that flies at 17k mph. you cant remotely update your satellite? lol

There is already Mars on earth a candy company called Mars

#trouble

The whole "this tech. could be weaponized," piece seemed almost childish to me. Do these people really have so little faith in humanity? At least to me it doesn't seem like anyone would use the tech. just to destroy especially when it's so badly needed and when destroying working sats, causing unneeded space debris in the process, would worsen the situation for everyone.

Space is a battlefield. Always has been, always will be a battlefield.

if pushing it back to earth so it burns up will work for you guys. Why cant you use a magnet to connect to pieces or satellite and use air pressure to push things back to earth.

REI

I am never gonna launch a satellite, still watching it

Well, I hope they are not really planning to “knock the target closer to Earth” because that’s not how deorbiting works 😅

Quick we need to fund this..

3:27 fail

no body dock to the space station because: Risk They take the space ship with the arm then dock to the space station In the video they talk about docking with magnet maybe its a safe idea but : RISK ? ... No human = low risk

😎

Mam you are very beautiful 😍😍😍

Can she stop acting like she talks to idiots?

SpaceX has been referred implicitly.

Even when you use metric, you mess it up. No it's not kmph, it's km/h. If I read kmph somwhere, I wouldn't even know what it means. Could just as well mean kilo miles per hour, because when it comes to units the US really has no scruples 🤦‍♂️. When will the Verge *SCIENCE* channel finally get it right?

We have enough VS on earth we don't need it in space now too. What's next humans are to blame for galactic climate change?

Is it really an era though lol?

Woohoo i am first

First

Please get a more science serious presenter. I don't like fluff.

First