At the Global Satellite Servicing Forum (GSSF) 2021 meeting this morning there was a question to panelists for SpaceLogistics, Astroscale, Starfish and Gitai on the role of debris removal, servicing and assembly companies in ISS life extension or removal. In the Q&A someone from Goddard posted this link

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/20/nasa-evaluating-private-space-station-proposals-for-iss-replacement.html

In the discussion it became clear that industry's expectation is this transition will be completed before the decade is out. Our space infrastructure on-orbit will transition from servicing of legacy systems to servicing of cooperative client spacecraft.

I believe this is the first time anyone has put a calendar on this formative transition.

Unless otherwise noted, the blog posts are written by Frederick A. Slane, Executive Director of the Space Infrastructure Foundation.

Food for thought:

The path ahead for on-orbit data processing is going to be interesting.  AI and cloud are coming. So is more processing capability. The delay tolerant question is starting to look to have more impact on near real time demands, coupled with bandwidth access.

Exo-Space Prepares For High Demand For On-Orbit Data Processing

Space News (9/22, Subscription Publication) reports that Exo-Space “has pivoted in response to growing demand for on-orbit data processing.” Exo-Space’s FeatherEdge image-analysis device for satellites and balloon payloads, “will rely on machine vision algorithms to detect objects within its field of view.” Exo-Space is offering monitoring of a specific area of interest for “a monthly subscription fee,” providing frequent updates to customers.

Unless otherwise noted, the blog posts are written by Frederick A. Slane, Executive Director of the Space Infrastructure Foundation.