Robotic spacecraft aims to add years to geosynchronous orbiters
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying Northrop Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV), a two-armed robotic spacecraft designed to attach life-extending jetpacks to aging satellites running low on fuel.
The MRV, described as a two-armed space robot, will spend the next year maneuvering into geosynchronous orbit, roughly thousands of miles above Earth. Hundreds of satellites operate in this band, where they match the speed of Earth’s rotation and maintain a fixed position over the same region, providing continuous communications coverage.
Once in orbit, the MRV will use its robotic arms to attach propulsion modules to aging communication satellites, extending their operational lives.
The launch is the second satellite-servicing mission to fly this month. On July 3, a separate three-armed spacecraft launched on a mission to boost NASA’s Swift Observatory, a gamma-ray observatory that has been in orbit for more than two decades. That mission aims to raise the Swift satellite’s altitude.
The two missions reflect a growing commercial push to keep existing satellites running longer, rather than replacing them with new spacecraft. In-orbit servicing can reduce the cost of maintaining satellite fleets.