Satellite ‘space tug’ gets approval
December 18, 2017
By Chris Forrester
An Intelsat-backed scheme to service one of its older orbiting satellites has been given an outline go-ahead by the FCC.
The reported plan is for satellite builder Orbital-ATK to deploy its Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) spacecraft in a test mission with a satellite which has already reached its end-of-life.
The target satellite is Intelsat-901, which launched back in June 2001 with an in-service life of some 13 years. The satellite is now some 16 years old and has been replaced in orbit. Trade newspaper Space News reported December 12th that MEV-1 could be orbiting in 2019 following a launch along with Eutelsat’s 5WB craft.