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Satellite Servicing vs Decommission-and-Replace

Watch a satellite's station-keeping propellant deplete over simulated operational years. Compare decommission-and-replace (a costly multi-year service gap once fuel hits zero) against on-orbit servicing (a robotic vehicle refuels the satellite before it runs dry) with live cumulative-cost and service-years charts.

Space & Astronomy3DModerate60 FPS

Details

CategorySpace & Astronomy

RenderingThree.js · WebGL

DifficultyModerate

Target FPS60

ControlsTime-acceleration slider, propellant-life slider, replacement-gap slider, new-satellite-cost slider, servicing-cost slider, dock-before-empty margin slider, run/pause and reset buttons

on-orbit servicingsatellite refuelingmission extension vehiclestation-keeping propellantdecommission and replacespace economicsrobotic dockingsatellite life extension

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A satellite's station-keeping propellant depletes over simulated operational years. Compare decommissioning and replacing it from scratch against an on-orbit robotic servicer that refuels it before it runs dry, with live cumulative-cost and service-years charts.

⚙ Under the hood

A satellite's station-keeping propellant steadily depletes over simulated operational years — not its payload or electronics. Compare decommission-and-replace, where an empty tank forces de-orbit and a multi-year, full-cost replacement gap with zero service, against on-orbit servicing, where a robotic vehicle docks and refuels the satellite before it runs dry, extending its revenue-generating life without interruption. Live cumulative-cost and cumulative-service-years charts make the economics directly visible.

on-orbit servicingsatellite refuelingmission extension vehiclestation-keeping propellantdecommission and replacespace economicsrobotic dockingsatellite life extension

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install