Argo Space Corporation, a startup founded by three former SpaceX employees are eyeing to build a transportation network in space with the help of reusable spacecraft which would be propelled by water, reported Tech Crunch.
Three brothers Robert Carlisle, Ryan Carlisle and Kirby Carlisle have identified some limitations in the space economy. First, the current orbital transport vehicles are focused on LEO, not on geosynchronous (GEO) or cislunar which are more demanding.
Secondly, these vehicles cannot be used again. Third, no refueling method is available. And last, any such method would likely be dependent on the resources from Earth.
Intending to resolve these issues, the startup's spacecraft is called the Argonaut — named after the famous seafaring heroes of Greek mythology.
The Argonaut is reusable and refuellable and is able to perform energy-intensive transfers to GEO and beyond depending on water from the Moon. The startup also aims to build a water reservoir on the moon for refueling. However, Argo did not disclose much about their system but said that it will use a water plasma thruster.
Water usage in spacecraft is not something new. NASA launched its demonstrator in 2021 to test the water propellant method.
COO Kirby Carlisle explained: "We look at this a lot like the California Gold Rush, where we are going to be commercialising this resource on the moon — water — and that’s going to enable a whole lot of other companies to build up their businesses, go after other new resources and bring new capabilities into the space that otherwise wouldn’t be possible or at all or economical without a service like ours."
With his new idea, securing funding of $2m from Type One Ventures, with participation from Boost VC, Stellar Ventures and Earthrise Ventures.
The idea has its origin in SpaceX as CTO Ryan Carlisle worked most recently as director of launch engineering at SpaceX, where he led large engineering teams on projects including Falcon and Starship. He was also part of an in-space refueling system project.
This idea was started from Ryan's experience working with cryogenic propellants, like liquid oxygen, methane and hydrogen.
"Cryogens are not fun to work with," Ryan said.
COO Kirby who worked on the post-launch refurbishment of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles at SpaceX said: "Working in refurbishment on the launch vehicles, I saw repeatedly that made it very difficult to easily reuse components, especially in a rapid manner. Sealing, as Ryan mentioned, is a massive problem."
Ryan added that water, on the other hand, is serendipitously good as a medium to work with. It doesn't have the same corrosive effects on materials, for one. One of its biggest upsides, especially for Argo's plans, is that it can be stored for long periods. This makes it a useful propellant for in-space refuelling depots and for long-duration missions.
Argo CEO Robert Carlisle said the company wanted to be on the moon, processing regolith and turning it into the water, in the late 2020s. Recent missions have uncovered the existence of water on even the sunlit portions of the moon, which will no doubt make Argo’s initial plans much more technically straightforward.
"We are talking to all the lander and rover companies you might imagine about getting a first demo down," Robert added.
For the time being, the company plans to generate revenue from in-space transportation services, with Argonauts using earth water as a propellant. The spacecraft could also work for satellite inspections or orbital debris removal.
The initial mission demonstration is to take place in 2024 to test the technology and the spacecraft capture mechanism.
Robert said Argo’s transportation network could solve the pain point for small satellites getting access to higher energy orbits beyond LEO.