30 years after Intelsat VI rescue, Northrop Grumman aims to make in-space servicing a permanent reality nasaspaceflight.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nasaspaceflight.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mission Extension Vehicles succeed as Northrop Grumman works on future servicing/debris clean-up craft
May 7, 2021
With the successful docking of Mission Extension Vehicle 2, or MEV-2, to the Intelsat 10-02 satellite last month, Northrop Grumman not only repeated the task of successfully attaching one of their MEV spacecraft to a functioning satellite but also successfully proved the ability to grab a still-transmitting telecommunications satellite without disrupting service.
The success of both MEV-1 and -2 has led to an increasing interest in the use of those crafts after their current five-year missions with their present satellites are complete. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman has already begun work on the next generations of remote, on-orbit servicing and debris clean-up vehicles.
A groundbreaking satellite just rescued another from its death orbit
Chris Davies - Apr 12, 2021, 2:52pm CDT
Two satellites docking, while still in space, sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, but that’s just what Northrop Grumman has done to extend the lifespan of one of Intelsat’s TV satellites. IS-10-02 may not have an interesting name but it’s certainly important to Intelsat, being responsible for part of the company’s satellite TV service across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.
Problem is, satellites don’t last forever, but servicing them has traditionally been off the table. Providers are generally forced to launch a fresh satellite instead, which is both expensive and leaves more space junk to accumulate in orbit around Earth. That’s already led to concerns that projects like the International Space Station could be at increasing risk of tech-trash collisions.