Pricing it Right: The Fresnel Project

Maria Berishaj, project management lead

bao-minh hoang, orbital trajectory specialist

adam kall, co-founder and director of science

4.5 minute read

Inspired by the “invention that saved a million ships,” KMI collaborated with Privateer on developing Fresnel, a space debris removal marketplace. Fresnel shows the cost for KMI to deorbit an in-space object that is actively being tracked. We’ll get to that marketplace in a moment, but the first step to explaining the concept is highlighting how remarkable an invention the original Fresnel lenses were. Developed in the 1820s, Fresnel lenses were a pioneering technology employed in lighthouses. Prior to this, lighthouses utilized bonfires or lamps fueled with oil or coal along with mirrors to provide light to sailors across the seas (and as Michiganders we must also recognize they were used on the Great Lakes). Augustin Fresnel innovated on this by creating lenses with a ring of crystalline prisms arranged in a dome to substantially extend the distance the light could reach, markedly improving maritime safety and saving countless lives.

Like treacherous shorelines that threaten ships of passage or freight, the exponential growth of orbital debris in Low Earth Orbit threatens the safe and effective operation of essential satellites. Thus, KMI embarked on this journey with fellow aerospace company Privateer Space to create Fresnel, a tool to illuminate the cost of deorbiting an object in space; incorporating an available price for the entire mission, from launch to full removal.

Before diving into how the pricing system works, let’s first explore how to use this tool. The first step is to navigate to Privateer’s Wayfinder. There you will be greeted by a render of Earth, surrounded by color-coded dots representing tracked objects in orbit, from debris to active satellites. By selecting an object and clicking on the “View object details” icon, additional information is opened up, now including an Estimated Removal Price. This number is the determined price for KMI’s Laelaps spacecraft to deorbit that object as last calculated. Clicking on that number steers you to KMI’s Fresnel page where you can find out more about the background of the project as well as contact us for information regarding pricing and/or Fresnel. With such a powerful tool and critical information, you might be wondering, how does KMI calculate the price?

A screenshot of Wayfinder after selecting an object. The red arrow points to the “View object details” icon and the Estimated Removal Price is outlined in red.

Pricing a debris-removal mission can be quite complex and must include many factors, such as the client object’s location, mass, proximity to other debris, and launching State. The two most influential factors in the price are the proportional cost of the spacecraft to deorbit the desired debris and, if fuel remains after Laelaps’ first mission, the probability of a secondary mission.

The proportional cost of the spacecraft takes into account the fuel and time used in a mission. With limited fuel onboard the Laelaps spacecraft, the cost of a mission is greatly impacted by how much fuel is used to deorbit an object. Thus, objects that require more fuel to navigate to— directly related to their altitude and inclination— will result in a higher mission cost. Until refueling stations are readily available in space, or the spacecraft can accommodate a fuel capacity that outlives our spacecraft, this factor will continue to be a key component in determining the price of a mission. Similar to fuel, the lifespan of Laelaps (and any spacecraft for that matter) is limited. In the harsh environment of space, the Laelaps spacecraft is intended to only survive a few years due to mechanical limitations, intense radiation, and impacts by microdebris. This means a mission to a far-off piece of debris that could take dozens of months to reach would greatly impact the cost.

Due to the high initial cost of manufacturing Laelaps, and the ability of Laelaps’ REACCH arms to repeatedly grab and release objects, the greatest value would come from multiple objects in adjacent orbits being deorbited in the same mission. This is because a mission to remove a single object in an unideal location with few potential secondary capture objects in range means that the probability of a secondary mission is much lower. Such a scenario may result in the waste of the remaining Laelaps fuel and lifespan, or a lengthier and more complex mission plan, both incurring additional operational costs for the customer. A planned multi-object capture mission would allow for the greatest number of objects to be remediated given the limitations of fuel and lifespan, decreasing the cost per object by potentially millions of dollars. Such optimal scenarios are unlikely to line up with an individual customer’s interests, especially in a more reactionary and nascent ADR market. Therefore, for single debris captures, the risk of not acquiring a secondary mission during that Laelaps spacecraft’s lifespan is factored into the pricing, reflecting the cost displayed on Wayfinder. The risk is eliminated if the removal of multiple objects is requested by a single customer. This pricing possibility will be addressed in future updates to Fresnel.

As with many other goods and services, the price of a deorbit mission can be influenced by external factors. Manufacturing complex technology such as a spacecraft requires many components whose price affects the cost of the output, from Xenon fuel to solar panel cells. This is in addition to the external costs of getting the spacecraft into space to conduct the mission. For example, there are convenient rideshare destinations on which Laelaps can hitch a ride, but our research shows that for some pieces of debris in off-normal orbits, it is actually a pricier option than paying for a launch directly into the debris’ orbit. With either approach, capturing an object outside of typical orbits will generate higher fuel costs and drive price increases due to the expanded distance the rocket will travel. Ultimately, many factors go into pricing a debris removal mission and it is an ongoing and evolving process.

The pricing tool on Wayfinder is in its first stage and KMI will continue to develop and refine Fresnel as long as debris is still in space. These refinements will focus on moving beyond the single debris capture paradigm, to accommodate pricing of multiple client objects in a single mission, so that a variety of customer needs can be met. Outside of Fresnel, KMI is also working on improving the fuel capacity and lifespan of Laelaps to decrease the costs and increase the efficiency of missions. At KMI, we recognize the importance of transparency, reliability, and feasibility, showing the world that the problems of space debris can be addressed sooner than many think, and move us all toward Keeping Space Clear For All.

Recommended column to read next: KMI: The Origin Story