SpaceLogistics, a Northrop Grumman company, provides in-orbit satellite servicing to geosynchronous satellite operators using its fleet of commercial servicing vehicles—the Mission Extension Vehicle, the Mission Robotic Vehicle, and the Mission Extension Pods. These services enable satellite operators to activate new markets, drive asset value and protect their franchises.
SpaceLogistics currently has two Mission Extension Vehicles (MEV)™ in-orbit which dock with customers’ existing satellites to provide the propulsion and attitude control needed to extend their lives. As of the end of 2022, these MEVs have delivered an aggregate of more than four years of life extension to our inaugural customer, Intelsat.
Scheduled for launch in 2024, our second generation of in-orbit servicing products include the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV)™ and the Mission Extension Pods (MEP)™. Once attached to a client satellite in GEO orbit by our robotic vehicle, the propulsion pods can provide a typical client satellite six years of additional station-keeping lifetime. In addition to installing MEPs, the MRV will be able to perform detailed robotic inspections, basic repairs, and relocations of client satellites.
SpaceLogistics’ technology and service roadmap expands on these current products and services, which are designed to service satellites that are already in orbit but not “prepared” for servicing, to servicing future satellites that are “prepared” for servicing. The next generation of GEO satellites are expected to include servicing ports for fuel, power and data that allow upgrades and repairs. This leads to commercially viable in-space assembly and manufacturing that overcomes the constraints of launch on the mass and volume of current generation of spacecraft.
As the global leader in development and deployment of on-orbit satellite servicing systems and the first and only company performing on-orbit servicing for commercial satellites in geosynchronous orbit, SpaceLogistics has a vision to make space sustainable through reuse, repair, and recycling of in-orbit satellites. Our planned series of vehicles will extend service life, provide enhanced capabilities, and enable future missions for a variety of customers.