Orbit Fab

Orbit Fab, founded in 2018 and based in Lafayette, Colorado, builds the infrastructure for an in-space propellant supply chain. The company provides what it describes as the world's first commercial spacecraft refueling services, on the premise that satellites need not be single-use assets. Its work spans in-space refueling, propellant transfer, fluid transfer interfaces, space logistics and satellite servicing.

Central to the offering is RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface), a refueling valve that has become the de facto industry standard for spacecraft refueling and has earned flight qualification and approval from the U.S. Space Force. In 2021 the company launched the first commercial fuel depot into low Earth orbit; in 2019 it became the first private company to resupply water to the International Space Station.

Orbit Fab works with Airbus Defence and Space, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and holds contracts with the U.S. Space Force, the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. Its activity spans the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom as well as low Earth orbit. The company describes its mission in terms of sustainability and a long-term space economy, and was founded to address the problem of space debris and single-use satellites.