Arkisys: Building Orbital Ports to Transform Satellites from One‑Mission Assets to Upgradable Space Infrastructure

Imagine a future where satellites don’t die after a single mission but evolve and adapt in orbit, extending their lifespans, fixing themselves when things break, and even taking on entirely new roles. That’s precisely the vision David A. Barnhart and his team are bringing to life at Arkisys.

EcoAero recently had the opportunity to visit Arkisys’s Southern California facility and meet with co-founder and CEO David A. Barnhart. Over the course of our tour, Barnhart walked us through their modular orbital infrastructure, complete with robotics testbeds, cut-away mockups, and a clear roadmap for turning today’s “one-and-done” satellites into reusable, serviceable platforms.

Arkisys was founded on the idea that space sustainability means more than just debris removal, it means shifting from disposable spacecraft to a continuously upgradable in-orbit ecosystem. David Barnhart, a former DARPA senior space project manager who pioneered early reusable-space concepts, now leads Arkisys as CEO and Research Professor at USC’s Space Engineering Research Center. Under his guidance, Arkisys has developed the “Port Module,” a self-healing, robotics-equipped hub designed to host a variety of payloads and connect seamlessly with visiting vehicles.

During our visit, Barnhart explained that Arkisys’s first launch is slated for the next couple of years, kickstarting a progressive, revenue-generating sequence of orbital demonstrations. He emphasized that while traditional missions end in retirement or deorbiting, Arkisys aims for perpetual operation: a spaceport in orbit that customers can refuel, repair, or upgrade at will.

“The last 50 years is to throw everything away, anything that goes up the space has one mission, one life, and that's it, yeah.”

At the heart of Arkisys’s architecture is the Port Module: a hexagonal building block equipped with onboard robotics, standardized rendezvous interfaces, and self-healing electronics. Modules are designed to stack and interconnect, enabling a scalable orbital outpost that grows organically as new capabilities—fuel tanks, sensor arrays, or scientific instruments—are added.

Barnhart also introduced the “Cutter,” Arkisys’s last-mile transport vehicle. Built with a mix of 3D-printed joints and high-volume manufacturing techniques, the Cutter ferries external payloads, refueling fluids, and replacement parts to waiting Port Modules. This “picks-and-shovels” approach underpins a service-based business model: customers choose from a menu of hosted-payload, refueling, inspection, or debris-removal services, each generating recurring revenue without the need to build a full spacecraft from scratch.

One of Arkisys’s most compelling ambitions is platform agnosticism. Whether it’s a biopharmaceutical experiment, agricultural seed tests, new camera sensors, or extruded structural components, Arkisys aims to support every conceivable payload. “We are agnostic to anything, so we’re trying to be the platform that anybody can test on,” Barnhart noted, highlighting conversations with clients across life sciences, robotics, and materials processing.

By breaking the cycle of “one mission, one life,” Arkisys positions itself at the forefront of In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM). Through initiatives like NASA’s COSMIC consortium and government partnerships that emphasize on-orbit servicing, ISAM is rapidly maturing into a trillion-dollar market. Arkisys’s modular Port Modules and autonomous Cutters align directly with this trend, offering reusable infrastructure that can evolve alongside customer needs. As more companies—ClearSpace, Astroscale, Varda—enter the ISAM arena, Arkisys’s agnostic, service-first model may prove decisive in driving down costs, reducing debris, and unlocking entirely new in-orbit economies.

Our visit also revealed how Arkisys’s hands-on robotics testbeds—like their full-scale arm simulator and in-vacuum demonstration chamber—are already validating the precision and durability needed for long-duration service missions. Equally noteworthy is Arkisys’s growing network: they’re now partnered with both Kall-Morris Inc. and Obruta Space Solutions, two innovators EcoAero has featured before, forming a collaborative triad aimed at standardizing modular interfaces and shared logistics in orbit. This synergy illustrates exactly what EcoAero champions: a cooperative ecosystem in space where research teams, manufacturers, and service providers work in concert to build a more sustainable, resilient orbital infrastructure. We’ll continue to spotlight these partnerships and bring you the latest on how Arkisys and its allies are turning the vision of an upgradable, serviceable space economy into reality.

Images courtesy of Arkisys, used with permission.