Northrop Grumman is leading the way to a beautiful future of resurrecting damaged satellites and extending the life of those satellites that are still active.
Yesterday, the MEV-2 service vehicle successfully connected to the Intelsat 10-02 satellite, which is in geostationary orbit.
The device broadcasts a signal from TV and radio stations and enables Internet access to audiences in Europe, Africa, West Asia and partially in North and South America.
Most of the transponders of this satellite are occupied by the Romanian digital platform Digi TV.
It is also broadcast, among others
RMF Maxxx radio and BBC World Service.Intelsat 10-02 is a telecommunications device belonging to the operator Intelsat, an international giant in this field.
The device has been in space since 2004, and during this time it has used up almost all of its fuel, so it can no longer fulfill its original role.
This situation is changing now, as MEV-2 will connect and contact it to test all on-board systems and then keep it in orbit for years to come. SpaceLogistics experts believe that thanks to the service mission, the Intelsat 10 satellite
-02 will get an additional 5 years to live.
MEV vehicles use an electric drive, powered by high-power solar panels.
The system allows to perform maneuvers in space for many years. The course of last year's MEV-1 and the current MEV-2 mission were closely watched by representatives of the US Department of Defense.
Now, with a new mission, they have decided that the government wants to use these benefits for its own use.
We can expect the Pentagon to massively revive satellites in the coming years.
For this purpose, an entire fleet of intelligent robots is to be created based on the MEV-1 and MEV-2 vehicles. The new Pentagon program will also have a positive impact on the immediate vicinity of our planet.
Thanks to the resuscitation of the satellites, it will be possible to reuse them or send them to burn in the atmosphere, which will reduce the problem of space debris.
There are currently nearly 70 extinct devices in orbit that can be brought back to life. Interestingly, this technology also attracted the attention of the European Space Agency, which decided to build its own service vehicle.
Poles from the Łukasiewicz Research Network - Industrial Institute for Automation and Measurements (PIAP Space) will help in the implementation of the project.
As part of a project called TITAN, they will build a prototype of a multi-jointed robotic arm for the future deorbitation and servicing of in-orbit satellites.
The contract is worth EUR 2.5 million.