Patience, As Expected, Was Patient
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ORC-V4 “Patience” completed an expedited single-object retrieval at LEO 718 km following a regulatory end-of-life mandate issued to a European commercial satellite operator. The client engaged ORC within 48 hours of receiving the mandate. ORC-V4 was dispatched from standby. Rendezvous was achieved on day 9. Controlled deorbit was completed on day 17 over the South Pacific uninhabited zone. Regulatory confirmation was received by the client within the required window. The surcharge was applied per S-02 terms. The mission is considered complete.
The mandate was issued by the regulator on a Tuesday. The client called us on a Thursday. This is a 48-hour response time, which is approximately the median for S-02 enquiries. The median is not a target. The median is a statistical observation about how long clients take to accept that the situation requires a phone call. We do not judge. We have made the same observation fourteen times.
The client’s first question was whether we could do it without the [REDACTED] . We answered this question at the enquiry stage, at the quote stage, and in the contract. We answered it again on the Thursday call. We answered it a fourth time when the invoice was issued. The answer did not change. The answer is in the contract.
Patience was dispatched from standby. Patience is always on standby. Patience has been on standby for [REDACTED] . Patience reached rendezvous on day 9.
The object was in the expected position. It was tumbling at a rate that was [REDACTED] . Deorbit was completed on day 17. South Pacific. Uninhabited zone. Confirmed.
The regulatory confirmation was issued to the client. The client then asked whether, given the mission came in under duration, any portion of the [REDACTED] . We responded. The client has since used ORC twice more. They have not asked about the [REDACTED] again. Progress.
| Service tier | S-02 Express Retrieval · + surcharge |
| Vehicle | ORC-V4 “Patience” |
| Altitude | LEO · 718 km |
| Time from mandate to ORC call | 48 hours. Median response. We have a chart. |
| Time from call to dispatch | 6 weeks lead time. Within S-02 parameters. |
| Mission duration | 17 days (planned: up to 21) |
| Rendezvous achieved | Day 9 |
| Object tumble state | Manageable. A. Kowalski managed it. |
| Deorbit zone | South Pacific uninhabited zone |
| Regulatory confirmation | Received. On time. |
| Surcharge | [REDACTED PER CLIENT REQUEST] |
| Surcharge queries from client | 3 (enquiry, invoice, post-mission). All answered. Same answer each time. |
| Patience status post-mission | Returned to standby. She is ready. She is always ready. |
ORC-V4 “Patience” has completed every S-02 mission assigned to her without incident, delay, or complaint. She has been dispatched from standby on eleven occasions. On eleven occasions she has performed exactly as required. On eleven occasions she has returned to standby and resumed waiting.
We named her Patience because she is always waiting and never objects to it. We feel, in retrospect, that this was either very apt or slightly unfair. We have not resolved this internally.
Patience is currently on standby. Patience is available with a 4–8 week lead time. Patience has been on standby for 11 weeks. Patience is fine. We have checked. She is fine.
- The 48-hour median response time following regulatory mandates is noted. Clients who engage ORC earlier in the decommissioning process consistently achieve better outcomes and pay less. We have said this in the pre-mission briefing pack. We will say it again in the next version of the pre-mission briefing pack. We have said this about the pre-mission briefing pack before.
- The S-02 surcharge is applied on all S-02 missions. It is in the contract. It has always been in the contract. It will continue to be in the contract. We will add a second mention of the surcharge to the quote acknowledgement form. The form currently mentions it once. Once has not been sufficient.
- A. Kowalski’s management of the object tumble state was efficient and professional. A. Kowalski noted in his mission log that the tumble rate was “higher than characterised but lower than interesting.” We have added this to the internal vocabulary list. It is a useful phrase.
- This client has since commissioned two further missions. Both completed successfully. Neither involved a query about the surcharge. We consider this a satisfactory resolution.