The Sixth Time
ORC-V1 “Maud” completed a disposal-only service for a repeat client at GEO. The object was transferred from the client’s own capture vehicle to Maud at GEO arc, then boosted to graveyard orbit at GEO+312 km. Full regulatory filing and client post-mission report were completed within the agreed timeframe. This was the sixth mission ORC has completed for this client. The mission is considered complete and successful in all material respects.
The client made contact in October 2025, as they have done in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The enquiry was, as on previous occasions, for S-04 disposal-only services at GEO. The object was, as on previous occasions, already in the client’s custody. No explanation for the object’s origin was provided. No explanation was requested. This is the arrangement.
We asked, as we do on every GEO mission, whether the object’s orbital elements had been verified and whether there were any known structural anomalies. The client said yes and no respectively. As on the previous five occasions, both answers proved accurate. We note this in the client file. The client file for this organisation is [REDACTED].
Maud completed the rendezvous, received the object, and boosted it to GEO+312 km without incident. At no point during the mission did any member of the ORC team ask the client what the object was, where it had come from, or why this was the sixth time in six years they had required graveyard disposal services at GEO. These are the terms on which we work with this client. The terms work for both parties. The terms will [REDACTED].
The regulatory filing was completed. The UNOORI registry update was submitted. The client post-mission report was issued. The client acknowledged receipt. The client did not ask any follow-up questions. They never ask follow-up questions. We find this, on balance, [REDACTED].
| Service tier | S-04 Responsible Deorbit & Disposal |
| Vehicle | ORC-V1 “Maud” |
| Altitude | GEO · 35,786 km |
| Mission type | Disposal-only (object in client custody on arrival) |
| Graveyard orbit | GEO + 312 km |
| Mission duration | 14 days |
| Anomalies | None |
| Object origin | Not disclosed. Not requested. |
| Regulatory filing | Filed 04 DEC 2025. UNOORI registry updated. |
| Client questions | None. As usual. |
| Times ORC has asked what the objects are | 0. This is a professional relationship. |
| This client’s total missions with ORC | 6. We anticipate a 7th. |
- This client contacts ORC approximately once per year. The pattern has been consistent since 2019. We have not forecasted a 7th mission in any formal document, but the account lead has noted the October contact date in her calendar for 2026. This seems reasonable.
- L. Sandhu has reviewed the client file annually since 2021. L. Sandhu’s review notes have become shorter each year. The 2025 note reads: “compliant.” We take this as a good sign.
- Maud’s performance on GEO missions continues to be excellent. GEO is technically demanding. Maud appears not to find it so. We are not sure if this reflects well on Maud’s engineering, the mission planning, or simply the kind of vehicle Maud is. Probably all three.
- The client has been offered, on four separate occasions, a multi-mission framework agreement that would simplify the annual contracting process. The client has declined on four separate occasions without explanation. We have stopped offering. The current arrangement also works.