SoylentNews

martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

The recovery quest by MEV-1 [theregister.co.uk], a Mission Extension Vehicle probe developed by Northrop Grumman to fix the Intelsat 901 comms satellite, now has the bird up and running again.

Launched in 2001, Intelsat 901 supports satellite television and internet communications to countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and ships in between them. In December 2019, customers relying on the ailing hunk of metal were transferred to other Intersat satellites and it was booted to a “graveyard orbit,” where defunct satellites are placed to avoid interfering with other functioning kit.

Grumman’s spacecraft arrived in February this year. It attached itself to the Intelsat 901 and used its electric propulsion modules to drag the satellite back into a geosynchronous orbit.

Now, the satellite has been given a new lease of life and can maintain its communications with Earth for at least another five years. Its previous 30 customers have now been transferred back to the satellite and all systems are in the pipe, five by five.

This is the first time that two commercial spacecrafts have docked in orbit for this purpose, and could extend the life of many other satellites. The MEV-1 has a grappling mechanical system that attached to Intersat 901 and then used its engines to take over the satellite’s attitude and orbital maintenance.

Should new satellites be designed for repair? Or should they be made less expensively because cheaper access to space (ala SpaceX), makes it less expensive to just replace one when it falters?

Original Submission