By James Pero For Dailymail.com
Published: 23:35 BST, 23 April 2019 | Updated: 23:36 BST, 23 April 2019
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The U.S. Department of Defense's most advanced research and development arm is calling upon engineers and scientists to help develop robots capable of remotely repairing satellites in space.
According to the The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Defense, the organization hopes to develop and launch the sophisticated space bots into orbit within the next five years.
Currently, says DARPA, about 400 satellites owned by the government and private industry in the U.S. are orbiting Earth with some more than 20,000 miles away making it service and maintenance all but impossible.
The U.S. Department of Defense is calling upon engineers and scientists to help develop robots capable of remotely repairing satellites in space. An artist rendering of the DARPA robot repairman shows control arms and solar panels for fuel
'With no prospects for assistance once in orbit, satellites destined for [geosynchronous equatorial orbit] today are loaded with backup systems and as much fuel as can be accommodated, adding to their complexity, weight and cost,' reads a release from DARPA.
'But what if help was just a service call away?'
When satellites encounter even minor problems -- ones that would constitute relatively easy fixes if the devices were accessible to engineers -- they are rendered obsolete.
With the help of what DARPA is calling the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites, that may no longer