OSAM-1

OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1) was a cancelled NASA spacecraft designed to test on-orbit refilling of satellites. It was previously known as Restore-L.

Originally scheduled to launch in 2020, its launch at the time of cancellation was planned for no earlier than 2026. Its primary objective was the complex refueling of Landsat 7, a satellite launched in 1999. This would have involved grasping the satellite with a mechanical arm, gaining access to the satellite's fuel tank by cutting through insulation and wires and unscrewing a bolt, and then attaching a hose to pump in hydrazine fuel. This was expected to have been the first refueling of a satellite in space, and a demonstration of the potential to repair the thousands of active satellites in orbit and keep them in operation. Because the satellites now in space were not designed to be serviced, there are significant challenges to doing so successfully.

OSAM-1's second objective was to deploy a separate robot called SPIDER (Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot) to build a new structure in space. Using robots to build and assemble new structural components from scratch would be an important step towards a type of space-based construction that had been impossible to date.

Description
The OSAM-1 spacecraft was to include:
 * two arms to grapple the target satellite
 * the attached payload for SPIDER

History
In 2016, NASA's Restore-L satellite was intended to refuel Landsat 7.

In 2020, SPIDER was added and the name was changed from Restore-L to OSAM-1.

On 1 March 2024, NASA announced that OSAM-1 had been cancelled due to "continued technical, cost, and schedule challenges, and a broader community evolution away from refueling unprepared spacecraft."

Cost & legacy
At cancellation in 2024, about $2 billion had been invested in the project.

Progression
A subsequent mission, OSAM-2, would have also had two robotic arms. OSAM-2 would have used ModuLink software which is based on xLink. In 2023, NASA decided to conclude the OSAM-2 project without proceeding to a flight demonstration.