WASHINGTON — SpaceLogistics, a satellite-servicing firm owned by Northrop Grumman, announced June 20 it has three confirmed orders for its refueling pods that can fly to orbit on servicing missions in 2025.
Intelsat ordered the third and last pod available on the debut mission of the corporate’s latest servicing spacecraft, called Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV).
Australian communications satellite operator Optus was the primary customer to join the Mission Extension Pods, that are propulsion jet packs that add six years to the lifetime of geostationary satellites. Intelsat in April said it purchased one in all the pods, followed by today’s announcement that it ordered a second one.
The MRV has two robotic arms developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA in 2020 signed an agreement with Northrop Grumman allowing the corporate to make use of the robotic payloads on the MRV in exchange for access to technology demonstrations and program data.
The robotic arms will install the jet packs on Optus’ and Intelsat’s communications satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit.
The MRV is the successor to SpaceLogistics’ Mission Extension Vehicles (MEVs) which can be currently docked with two Intelsat spacecraft providing life-extension services.
Intelsat’s latest order for the MEP “completes the launch manifest for our first tranche of MEPs and underscores the demand for our services,” Rob Hauge, president of SpaceLogistics, said in a news release.
MRV launched pushed to 2025
SpaceLogistics had previously projected a 2024 launch for the MRV. The corporate said June 20 that each the MRV and MEPs have accomplished their critical design reviews and are proceeding toward a planned 2025 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
“While this order wraps up our first launch, it’s only the start of the MEP product line with plans not only for industrial, but in addition government variants to fulfill their unique needs,” Hauge said.