CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A two-armed space robot blasted off in a private rescue operation Tuesday to drop the life-extending jetpacks on aging satellites that were consuming fuel thousands of miles up.
It’s the second satellite rescue mission to launch this month, all part of a growing and money-saving effort to keep the spacecraft running as long as possible.
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Another company’s three-winged spacecraft rocketed into orbit on July 3 to shore up NASA’s Swift Observatory so it doesn’t crash into Earth this fall.
Launched by SpaceX, the Northrop Grumman robotic mission vehicle — called the MRV — and its aircraft will spend the next year hovering in a proper orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 km) above Earth.
Hundreds of satellites orbit in this so-called geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO), where they match the Earth’s rotation speed and stay in the same part of the sky for continuous coverage.
Once in place in mid-2027, the minivan-sized spacecraft will use its 30-foot wings to attach an aircraft to an aging communications satellite.
It will then close to two more satellites in need.
For its debut flight, the spacecraft carried three electrically powered jets that were programmed to detach after liftoff and, like the MRV, use their xenon gas thrusters to reach the desired orbit.
The planes will wait for the robot to pick them up, one by one, and insert them into their assigned satellites.
Each jet pack – the size of a washing machine – will provide the necessary breath to keep a gas-free satellite running for a few more years rather than being retired.
If it works, it will be a boon to satellite operators SES of Luxembourg and Optus of Australia, saving them millions of dollars in replacement costs.
This is Northrop Grumman’s latest foray into the satellite servicing business. In 2019 and again in 2020, the company launched a pair of spacecraft that docked with the wobbly communications satellites and steered them, providing extra years of life.
Northrop Grumman designed its new robotic assistants to be even more agile.
The company envisions future versions repairing and relocating live satellites, and even tethering to dead ones to move them out of heavily trafficked orbits.
The company is collaborating with the US Naval Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Meanwhile, Katalyst Space Technologies continues to test its Link satellite helper in orbit before rushing to the Swift Observatory’s rescue. Flight controllers had to overcome initial communication and steering problems with Link by transmitting software patches.
Launched in 2004, NASA’s Swift telescope has been sinking faster than usual due to all the recent solar activity.
A boost from Link in the coming weeks could give the observatory about $400 million worth of gamma rays for many more years to study some of the biggest explosions in the universe.
NASA is paying Kataylst $30 million to raise Swift to its original altitude of 373 miles (600 kilometers). Northrop Grumman provided Link’s ride into orbit, using a Pegasus rocket launched from the plane.
