Transferring traffic from the aging Intelsat-907 to Intelsat-901 will take a few days to a week, with full service expected to begin in the first half of April.
Northrop Grumman plans to move the MEV-1/Intelsat-901 stack into the geostationary arc so Intelsat-901 can resume service in late March 2020.
MEV-1 docked with Intelsat-901 using a capture mechanism that engaged through the throat of Intelsat-901’s apogee engine.
MEV-1 completed in-orbit testing and paused 80 m from Intelsat-901 on 2020-02-24 during rendezvous operations.
Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle-1, launched in October 2019, is scheduled to dock with Intelsat-901 in early 2020 to extend the satellite’s life.
MEV-1 docked with Intelsat-901 in a graveyard orbit located 300 km above the geostationary arc.
Intelsat-901 will enter service at the 332.5 degrees east orbital slot using C-band transponders and steerable Ku-band beams to cover North and South America, Africa, and Europe.
MEV-1 used onboard electric propulsion to raise its orbit to match Intelsat-901’s orbit by 2020-02-01.
MEV-1 and Intelsat-901 will undergo additional checkouts as a combined stack before being moved into the geostationary arc.
Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle 1 will dock with Intelsat-901 in a graveyard orbit 300 km above the geosynchronous arc.
Preparations and testing will take a few months to complete before Intelsat-901 is placed back into the geostationary orbital arc.
Northrop Grumman has a contract with Intelsat to extend the life of the 18-year-old Intelsat-901 satellite for five years using MEV-1.
MEV-1 will rendezvous in geostationary orbit with Intelsat 901, an 18-year-old satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit.
Intelsat 901 will raise its orbit to a graveyard orbit a few hundred kilometers above GEO prior to MEV-1 arrival to avoid interference with other GEO satellites.
MEV-1 will move Intelsat 901 into a new operational location in geostationary orbit over the Atlantic Ocean and remain attached for five years.
Northrop Grumman plans to launch its first Mission Extension Vehicle to dock with Intelsat-901 and take over orbital station-keeping duties to extend the satellite’s service life.
MEV-1 and Intelsat-901 will spend two to three months in a graveyard orbit about 300 km above the geostationary arc to conduct tests before climbing back down under MEV-1’s control and returning to commercial service in 2019.
Orbital ATK’s first Mission Extension Vehicle, MEV-1, is slated to launch in early next year to dock with Intelsat-901 and take over orbital station-keeping duties, extending the satellite’s service life by several years.
Orbital ATK completed successful compatibility assessments between MEV-1 and Intelsat-901.
The first Mission Extension Vehicle will rendezvous and dock with Intelsat-901 in a graveyard orbit and the combined stack will be brought to Intelsat-901’s designated slot in geostationary orbit.