BENGALURU: India is set to move a step closer to becoming the world’s second country to demonstrate on-orbit satellite refuelling, after China, with the upcoming launch of OrbitAid’s 25-kg Ayulsat aboard ISRO’s PSLV-C62 on Monday.
China conducted a similar demonstration last year, though details remain limited due to sparse official disclosures. No other spacefaring nation, including the United States, has publicly demonstrated this capability in orbit, although US company Astroscale is currently developing refuelling technologies.
Ayulsat will not perform a full-scale on-orbit refuelling mission. Instead, it has been designed as a target satellite to validate fuel transfer processes in the space environment. Rather than involving two spacecraft, the mission focuses on internal refuelling within a single satellite, enabling engineers to study fluid behaviour in microgravity under real orbital conditions.
OrbitAid founder and CEO Sakthikumar R told TOI that the first refuelling operation is expected to take place within four hours of launch.
