By Andrew Tarantola
Launching satellites is a risky proposition—costing as much as $10,000 a pound to make orbit and little recourse if a critical piece malfunctions. So, Darpa has devised a system to recycle the $300 billion worth of orbiting dead satellites into a zombie antenna array.
The Phoenix system, as it has been dubbed, consists of a primary Tender/Servicer satellite and multiple smaller mini-satellites called “Satlets.” As the plan goes, after the Tender has reached geosynchronous orbit (GEO), the Satlets are launched aboard a commercial communications satellite from which the Tender will collect them and store them on-board itself.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/darpa-dead-sats/#more-60786
