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Senators Question Nixing Of NASA’s Satellite Servicing Mission

By Marc Selinger

Friday, June 30th, 2017

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Senators Question Nixing Of NASA’s Satellite Servicing Mission

An artist's rendering of Restore-L. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Three members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) have expressed skepticism over NASA’s decision to scrap its Restore-L satellite-servicing mission.Restore-L was slated to launch in 2020 to refuel the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat-7 Earth-imaging satellite. In December, NASA awarded a $127 million contract to Space Systems Loral (SSL) of Palo Alto, Calif., to build the mission's spacecraft bus.But Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot told the SAC’s Commerce, Justice, Science subcommittee June 29 that his agency has decided to de-fund Restore-L and…

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