SSL wycofał sie z projektu z powodów finansowych i biznesowych.
Dla kontynuowania projektu potrzebny jest nowy inwestor.
Maxar’s exit from DARPA satellite servicing program a cautionary taleby Sandra Erwin — January 30, 2019
Former RSGS program manager Gordon Roesler: ”The RSGS capability is so revolutionary, the nation really needs to find a way to get it on orbit."(...) In just two years since the deal was signed, the business climate has changed, Roesler noted. SSL was producing six to eight GEO satellites a year; now it’s divesting the business. “They were going to fund this out of their operating capital.” The calculus was that the company would finance the project for several years and recoup the investment from on-orbit operations. Roesler had estimated it would take about three to five years of on-orbit repair work to recover the upfront investment. But that was before the GEO downturn.(...)
James Vedda, senior policy analyst at the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, said the RSGS setback should not be read “as an indictment of satellite servicing.” SSL has been in a financial slump for some time, he said, “even though its GEO satellites are very highly regarded.” The company is trying to sell off its GEO satellite manufacturing division due to disappointing revenue. Satellite servicing won’t be a profitable business line for a while, Vedda said, “so this may be part of a bigger rethinking of the business plan rather than a rejection of satellite servicing as a viable business endeavor.” (...)
https://spacenews.com/maxars-exit-from-darpa-satellite-servicing-program-a-cautionary-tale/https://spacenews.com/op-ed-a-new-mission-for-darpas-rsgs-robotic-spacecraft-satellite-bodyguards/