View from Northrop Grumman’s MEV-2 spacecraft as it approached to dock with the Intelsat IS-1002 satellite.
Intelsat
Two aerospace companies first made an industry on Monday, as a small Northrop Grumman spacecraft successfully docked an active Intelsat satellite to provide services and extend its life.
Intelsat’s IS-1002 satellite is nearly 18 years old and works well beyond life expectancy, but the spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman, called MEV-2, will add another five years of life to IS-1002, essentially fueling the satellite and providing is a new engine for control.
The companies have reached an important stage in the growing activity of servicing satellites in space.
“Today’s successful deployment of the second deployment vehicle further demonstrates the reliability, safety and usefulness of space logistics,” said Tom Wilson, vice president of strategic space systems at Nothrop Grumman in a statement. “The success of this mission paves the way for second-generation satellite and robot maintenance, giving flexibility and resilience to both commercial satellite operators and the government, which can enable completely new classes of missions.”
A detailed look at the IS-1002 Intelsat satellite as MEV-2 approached for docking in orbit.
Intelsat
Extending the life of an active spacecraft in orbit has been done before only with human help – such as Hubble telescope service missions performed by NASA astronauts.
Launched in August on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket, the MEV-2 robot has spent the last few months traveling to the satellite. MEV-2 matched its orbit before successfully docking, while providing unique satellite imagery as the probe approached.
IS-1002 was launched in June 2004 and has only been in operation for 13 years, providing broadband communications services to Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. The satellite is in a fixed position above the Earth, in what is known as geosynchronous orbit – tens of thousands of miles up to provide the widest possible coverage area.
The MEV-2 mission is based on the success of Northrop Grumman’s MEV-1 mission last year, which docked with an inactive Intelsat satellite. The satellite was in a “graveyard orbit”, meaning it no longer provided services, but MEV-1 restored it and moved the satellite back into position.
The MEV-2 spacecraft, although similar to the MEV-1, took that mission a step further by docking and extending the life of a satellite currently in service.
Northern Sky Research, a satellite consulting firm, estimates that the satellite services market and extended life expectancy represent a $ 3.2 billion opportunity over the next decade.
The company predicts that there will be demand for the upward service of 75 satellites by 2030, with companies and governments looking to extend the lifespan of geosynchronous orbital satellites, usually expensive, rather than launching replacements.