NASA cancels $2 billion satellite refueling project, citing technology and cost challenges

NASA is canceling a $2 billion satellite refueling project, citing cost and technical challenges that have plagued the program.

The space agency announced Friday the suspension of the On-Orbit Service, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project after a “thorough, independent” review.

A statement in a NASA news release said the project cancellation was due to “ongoing technical, cost, and schedule challenges, as well as the broader community’s evolution away from refueling unprepared spacecraft.” This was caused by a lack of a committed partner.

For the OSAM-1 project, which began in 2015, NASA contracted Maxar and worked with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which led the project.

OSAM-1 was being developed to help refuel spacecraft, but the program encountered many difficulties and increased costs to NASA.

NASA’s October inspector general report found that the agency’s schedule delays and cost escalation were exacerbated by “deteriorating contractor performance and ongoing technical challenges.”

According to reports, the company is running out of a $2 billion price tag and also has a planned launch date of December 2026.

“Development of Landsat 7’s maintenance payload, the system responsible for rendezvous and refueling, continues to be more expensive and take longer than expected,” the NASA report said. “Additionally, much of the project’s cost increases and schedule delays are due to Maxar’s poor performance on the spacecraft bus and SPIDER contracts, with each deliverable approximately two years behind schedule.”

NASA said leadership is “considering ways to mitigate the impact of the cancellation on employees” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.