spacetoday.net: Satellite servicing vehicle docks with Intelsat satellite

Satellite servicing vehicle docks with Intelsat satellite

Posted: Sat, Feb 29, 2020, 8:03 AM ET (1303 GMT)
Intelsat-901 as seen by approaching MEV-1 (Northrop Grumman)

Northrop Grumman's satellite servicing spacecraft has successfully docked with an Intelsat satellite, the company announced Wednesday. Northrop's Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) 1 docked with the Intelsat 901 satellite early Tuesday, after maneuvering in the vicinity of that satellite for the last few weeks. MEV-1, launched in October, will take over maneuvering of Intelsat 901 for the next five years, extending a life of a satellite that had only a few months of fuel left. Northrop said it plans to launch MEV-2 later this year, which will service another, unidentified Intelsat satellite. The company will then develop another system that uses a so-called Mission Robotic Vehicle mothership to attach smaller Mission Extension Pods to satellites.