{"id":12622,"date":"2020-02-26T18:20:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T10:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/two-commercial-satellites-link-up-in-space-for-first-time\/"},"modified":"2020-02-26T18:20:36","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T10:20:36","slug":"two-commercial-satellites-link-up-in-space-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/two-commercial-satellites-link-up-in-space-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Two commercial satellites link up in space for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Intelsat 901 satellite, backdropped by planet Earth, is seen by Northrop Grumman\u2019s first Mission Extension Vehicle more than 22,000 miles over the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Northrop Grumman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Northrop Grumman robotic servicing spacecraft has hooked up with an aging Intelsat communications satellite more than 22,000 miles over the Pacific Ocean, accomplishing the first link-up between two commercial satellites in space, and the first docking with a satellite that was never designed to receive a visitor.<\/p>\n

Northrop Grumman\u2019s first commercial Mission Extension Vehicle, or MEV 1, will take over propulsion responsibilities for Intelsat 901, which is running low on fuel after more than 18 years in service relaying data and television signals. MEV 1 is the first spacecraft of its kind, and officials say the successful link-up with Intelsat 901 is a harbinger for a new era of commercial satellite servicing.<\/p>\n

The automated docking early Tuesday also marked the first connection of two satellites in geosynchronous orbit, a region high above the equator where spacecraft move at speeds that match the rate of Earth\u2019s rotation. The ability of satellites to move in lock-step with the spin of Earth makes geosynchronous orbit, or GEO, a popular location for communications relay stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very historic day,\u201d said Joe Anderson, vice president of business development and operations at SpaceLogistics LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, which built the MEV 1 spacecraft. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time that satellites have docked in the GEO orbit. It\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve ever docked with a satellite that was not designed to be dock with, and it\u2019s the first time two commercial satellites have ever docked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MEV 1 spacecraft lifted off from Kazakhstan in October aboard a Russian Proton launcher, flying in tandem on the same rocket with a Eutelsat telecom satellite. After its release into an elliptical, or egg-shaped transfer orbit, MEV 1 activated electric thrusters to circularize its orbit more than 22,000 miles (roughly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n

MEV 1 arrived in the vicinity of Intelsat 901 on Feb. 5, according to Anderson.<\/p>\n

Intelsat 901 left its operating position and raised its altitude by 180 miles, or 290 kilometers, to the so-called GEO graveyard orbit, where geostationary satellites are typically decommissioned. Managers selected the GEO graveyard orbit for the first MEV docking to reduce the risk to other active satellites from space debris in the event of an accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a long time in the making,\u201d Anderson said in an interview Wednesday with Spaceflight Now. \u201cThe company\u2019s been working on developing this capability for over 10 years now. Our construction began back in 2016, and we launched here last October, made it into orbit, up to up to the GEO graveyard orbit, where we rendezvoused with this Intelsat satellite earlier this month.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This series of images shows the MEV\u2019s final approach to the Intelsat 901 satellite, and its attachment to Intelsat 901\u2019s engine nozzle. Credit: Northrop Grumman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since Feb. 5 up until Monday of this week, we were doing a number of approaches, calibrating our sensors and our algorithms, testing out our procedures,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cAnd then on Monday, we did the final approach. It was quite exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Switching from low-impulse electric thrusters to higher-power conventional liquid-fueled jets, MEV 1 approached the Intelsat 901 spacecraft and paused at pre-planned waypoints 80 meters (262 feet) and 20 meters (65 feet) from its docking target.<\/p>\n

The robotic servicing craft was designed to extend a stinger into the nozzle of the main engine on Intelsat 901, which has not been used since the weeks after the satellite\u2019s launch in 2001. A liquid apogee engine is mounted to the base of about 80 percent of the communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit.<\/p>\n

A series of images released Wednesday by Northrop Grumman showed the MEV\u2019s stinger entering the Intelsat 901 engine. Mechanical fingers reached out and grabbed the target craft to pull the two satellites together at 2:15 a.m. EST (0715 GMT) Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lowered our orbit down down to about 80 meters behind the client satellite, and from there began the approach to the client,\u201d Anderson said Wednesday. \u201cThe satellite autonomously maneuvers from one waypoint to the next is approaching the client. It takes a couple of hours to do that approach, and then we get to the final waypoint right behind the client, we get permission from the client to to do the docking and send the command, and a few minutes later we were captured and clamped together, locked together and the MEV took over control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ground teams at Northrop Grumman\u2019s satellite control center in Dulles, Virginia, and at Intelsat\u2019s operations center in nearby Tysons Corner orchestrated the docking. But MEV 1\u2019s on-board computer, using data gathered by a scanning LIDAR ranging sensor and infrared and visible cameras, guided the spacecraft toward Intelsat 901 autonomous, with occasional go-aheads from ground controllers.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s illustration of the Intelsat 901 satellite (left) after the docking of the Mission Extension Vehicle (right). Credit: Northrop Grumman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MEV\u20191 next act will be to relocate Intelsat 901 to a new operating position in geosynchronous orbit at 27.5 degrees west longitude, again using the spacecraft\u2019s fuel-efficient xenon-fed electric thrusters. The servicer will also adjust the inclination, or tilt, of Intelsat 901\u2019s orbit from 1.5 degrees back over the equator.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re over the Pacific Ocean, and we\u2019ll be continuing to drift westward to relocate the Intelsat satellite over to their new operating position in the Atlantic Ocean region,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cSo they\u2019ll be going to a new location at 27.5 degrees west longitude, and it will go into service there. The end of March, beginning of April timeframe is when we should be there. At that point, Intelsat will transfer the traffic from one of their other communications satellites to the Intelsat 901 satellite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Built by Space Systems\/Loral, now known as Maxar, the Intelsat 901 satellite launched in June 2001 aboard a European Ariane 4 rocket from French Guiana with a design lifetime of 13 years. The satellite is still capable of providing services for Intelsat customers, but would need to be retired soon without the help of Northrop Grumman\u2019s servicing craft.<\/p>\n

The Mission Extension Vehicle takes over attitude control and propulsion responsibilities, acting like a jet pack for the customer spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Under the terms the contract with Intelsat, the MEV 1 spacecraft will provide propulsion capabilities to Intelsat 901 to extend its usable life for five years, then return the satellite to a decommissioning graveyard orbit. At the end of the five-year service, MEV 1 could dock with another satellite in geosynchronous orbit to serve another client.<\/p>\n

Intelsat, one of the world\u2019s largest and oldest commercial satellite operators, signed up as the anchor customer for the Space Logistics satellite servicing program in 2016.<\/p>\n

Satellite servicing is not new for Intelsat.<\/p>\n

Astronauts flying on the space shuttle Endeavour installed a new upper stage on the Intelsat 603 satellite in 1992. Over the course of three spacewalks, Endeavour\u2019s crew struggled to capture the cylinder-shaped communications satellite, which was stranded in an unusable orbit by a launch failure.<\/p>\n

After two capture attempts turned up empty, space shuttle crew conducted the first \u2014 and so far only \u2014 spacewalk to be performed by three astronauts to grab the 4.5-ton satellite and connect a new kick motor to send it into geostationary orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntelsat has been at the forefront of innovation and game-changing space technology for decades,\u201d said Mike DeMarco, executive vice president and chief services officer at Intelsat, in a press release. \u201cPushing the boundaries of what\u2019s possible is in our DNA here \u2013 that\u2019s why we didn\u2019t hesitate to sign up to be MEV-1\u2019s first customer. We\u2019re proud to make history with Space Logistics LLC and Northrop Grumman on this groundbreaking space milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n