{"id":5752,"date":"2025-04-10T23:35:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/intelsat-concludes-satellite-life-extension-mission-makes-space-history\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T23:35:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:35:57","slug":"intelsat-concludes-satellite-life-extension-mission-makes-space-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/intelsat-concludes-satellite-life-extension-mission-makes-space-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Intelsat Concludes Satellite Life-Extension Mission, Makes Space History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1744272063645_638798688690045777.png\" width=\"712\" height=\"385\" alt=\"Intelsat Concludes Satellite Life-Extension Mission, Makes Space History\" class=\"imageload removeImageattr\" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1744272063645_638798688690045777.png\" style=\"opacity: 0.998751;\"><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/1744272063645_638798688690045777.png\"><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"712\"><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"385\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Intelsat<\/strong>, operator of one of the world\u2019s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, became the first and only satellite operator to complete a life-extension mission adding five years of valuable service to the Intelsat 901 (IS-901) satellite and its many customers, providing extended reliable and global connectivity.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The MEV mission proved that in-orbit servicing enhances satellite sustainability and efficiency in space,&#8221;<\/em> said <strong><\/strong><strong>Jean-Luc Froeliger<\/strong><strong>, SVP of Space Systems, Intelsat<\/strong>. \u201cWe were able to provide five additional years of reliable service to our Network, Media and Mobility customers and paved the way for future advancements in satellite servicing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget-layout related-content-also-read-box my-3\">\n<h4 class=\"mb-0\">Also Read: What is the impact of Small Satellites on Global Connectivity?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p>The world\u2019s first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), developed by <strong>Northrop Grumman Corporation<\/strong>\u2019s Space Logistics LLC, successfully detached from IS-901 after moving the satellite to the graveyard orbit, where the satellite will be decommissioned after nearly 24 years of service. The MEV first docked with IS-901 in February of 2020 nearly 19 years after the satellite was first launched.<\/p>\n<p>Geostationary satellites use propellant to remain at a specific orbital location, relocate to a new location or eventually be moved to a graveyard orbit. The MEV has its own propellant and thrusters that operate independently of the satellite. Through in-orbit docking, the MEV allows Intelsat to extend the life of a satellite by several years when the original propellant of that satellite has been depleted. \u201c<em>Using the MEV to extend the life of IS-901 was a great commercial success for our customers, as well as a historic technical achievement,<\/em>\u201d Froeliger said. \u201c<em>We had to do a rendezvous and approach of two spacecraft moving at 3km per second,<\/em>\u201d Froeliger said.<\/p>\n<p>Following this success, Intelsat partnered with Northrop Grumman on a second mission in 2021, using MEV-2 to extend the life of Intelsat 10-02, a combination that remains operational. Intelsat continues to seek out and invest in next-generation satellite life-extension projects and other innovation setting the stage for continued advancements and enabling emerging space companies to shape the future of the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intelsat, operator of one of the world\u2019s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, became the first and only satellite operator to complete a life-extension mission adding five years of valuable service to the Intelsat 901 (IS-901) satellite and its many customers, providing extended reliable and global connectivity. &#8220;The MEV mission proved that in-orbit servicing enhances [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26,20,36],"class_list":["post-5752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ground","tag-satellite","tag-thrusters"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}