In February, a maneuver between the commercial satellite Intelsat 901 and the MEV-1 promised to change the way space is explored. Now Intelsat and Northrop Grumman reveal to the world that the mission to regain control of the satellite that was about to run out of fuel has been successful, opening the door to new possibilities for recovering space waste from Earth's orbit.
After contacting the Intelsat 901, the MEV-1 took over the navigation areas, reducing the satellite's inclination by 1.6 and moving it to the correct route. Intelsat clarifies in a statement that on April 2, about two months after the successful coupling between satellites, Intelsat 901 was finally able to return to the geostationary orbit and make its services available to the company's customers again.
Northrop Grumman and the subsidiary Space Logistics, which monitored the docking mission, are now responsible for keeping the Intelsat 901 operational for another 5 years. At the end of this period, the SEM-1 will remove it from the geostationary orbit. The US company says its satellite could help extend the life span of other equipment in space. This year, Northrop Grumman will also launch the MEV-2 to help Intelsat 1002.
It is recalled that, in the past, other missions were launched in order to repair service satellites, but all of them were manned. The success of the Intelsat and Northrop Grumman mission is an important goal for the space industry. The repair of orbiting satellites can save several million companies in the sector and reduce the space waste that is generated as a result of their activity.