Skycorp, Inc

Skycorp, Inc. is an aerospace company focused on transforming the spacecraft industry through on-orbit manufacturing, modular design, and electric propulsion. Founded in 1998 by Dennis Wingo, the company is developing systems to lower the cost of space logistics and create a sustainable in-space economy. Wingo, the company's CEO, has a background in engineering physics, computer design, and aerospace, and was previously a co-founder of Orbital Recovery Corporation, which focused on satellite servicing. His experience includes leading projects for Space Shuttle and Space Station experiments, and he holds several patents related to space logistics and spacecraft systems.

The company's business model centers on providing in-space logistics and satellite servicing. This is accomplished through a proposed network of "STARports," which are orbital factories for building, upgrading, and resupplying modular satellites, and "STARcraft," which are versatile orbital logistics vehicles. These STARcraft are designed to assemble and repair satellites, transport them to their designated orbits, remove space debris, and carry customer payloads. By assembling spacecraft in orbit, Skycorp aims to avoid the high costs and design constraints associated with building satellites on Earth to withstand intense launch forces.

A core component of Skycorp's technology is the Orbital Logistics Vehicle (OLV), a reusable space platform with a standardized interface bus, the Intelligent Space Systems Interface (iSSI). This modular architecture allows third-party payloads to be easily integrated, similar to how the Open Compute Project standardized data center design. The OLV is designed to be launched in a container and assembled on-orbit, such as at the International Space Station (ISS). The company provides services to both commercial and government clients, including the Department of Defense and NASA. For example, Skycorp has received government contracts to develop multi-orbit logistics vehicles and to fly a flight qualification experiment of its iSSI connector to the ISS to test its power and data transfer capabilities in the space environment.

Keywords: on-orbit servicing, space logistics, satellite servicing, modular spacecraft, orbital assembly, electric propulsion, space debris removal, in-space manufacturing, orbital logistics vehicle, Dennis Wingo, STARport, STARcraft, intelligent space systems interface, satellite life extension, spacecraft reprovisioning, multi-orbit logistics, space economy infrastructure, aerospace engineering, geostationary satellites