WASHINGTON - In what could be described as a cosmic gas station alliance, Orbit Fab and Thales Alenia Space are teaming up on a project backed by the U.K. Space Agency to determine if satellites with electric propulsion can be refueled in orbit. This is part of a broader European trend toward satellite servicing and reusable spacecraft infrastructure, because apparently, throwing things away in space is so last century.

Orbit Fab, which has bases in both Colorado and the U.K., is developing a commercial in-space refueling service. Thales Alenia Space, one of Europe's largest satellite manufacturers with operations across seven countries, will provide the expertise in building the satellites that might one day need a top-up.

On May 26, the companies announced they will explore integrating Orbit Fab's RAFTI refueling interface with Thales Alenia's electric propulsion systems, such as xenon-fueled Hall-effect thrusters. RAFTI, which stands for Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface, is a docking and fuel-transfer port designed to let satellites hook up with orbital fuel depots or servicing spacecraft to replenish their propellant. Orbit Fab has been pushing RAFTI as the universal refueling connection for orbital servicing missions, because who doesn't want a standard for something as niche as space refueling?

The U.S. Space Force has already approved RAFTI as an accepted refueling interface for military satellites and plans to use it in demonstrations of hydrazine fuel transfers for chemical-propulsion spacecraft in geostationary orbit. So the military is on board, but the real test is whether electric propulsion can get the same treatment.

Orbit Fab said the collaboration with Thales Alenia Space focuses on adapting the interface for electric propulsion systems, an area of growing interest in Europe as operators look to extend satellite lifetimes and support more maneuverable spacecraft. "With electric propulsion becoming an increasingly significant area of development across the European space sector, the project represents an important step towards enabling refuellable spacecraft architectures for future missions," the company said, in a statement that probably took itself very seriously.

The work will be carried out by Orbit Fab and Thales Alenia Space teams in the U.K. under a project called Refuelable Electric Engine Flatsat. If you're wondering what a flatsat is, it's a ground-based spacecraft testbed used to validate satellite subsystems and operational concepts before building flight hardware. In this case, the flatsat will be used to test fluid-transfer interfaces, operational procedures, and refueling concepts for electric-propulsion spacecraft. So, essentially, they're building a mock satellite on Earth to practice refueling before doing it in space, because trial and error is a bit more expensive when you're in orbit.