A Technical Blueprint for Developing an In-space Rescue Capability

The acceleration of human spaceflight activity since the beginning of the current decade, largely attributed to the onset and advancement of a robust commercial space industry in the United States, has increased the importance of addressing the existing gap in capabilities to rescue astronauts in space. Interest in this topic has fluctuated but perpetuated throughout the Space Age, spiking—and sometimes yielding action—in the wake of a handful of space accidents involving loss of human life and the resulting responses. More recently, three former NASA administrators have called out the need for in-space rescue capabilities. It is almost a statistical certainty that at some point in the future, human spaceflight participants will again encounter a life-threatening crisis in space. It is the authors’ hope that a viable rescue capability will be readily available for activation before it is needed, especially before a loss of human life precipitates its development. This is an achievable goal if development of an in-space rescue capability is prioritized. Rather than addressing the circumstances inhibiting resolution of the in-space rescue gap, this paper aims to provide a blueprint for the technical components required to successfully plan for, design, coordinate, and execute the rescue of endangered spacefarers in such a scenario.