Orbital ATK Subsidiary Gets Preliminary FCC Approval for In-Orbit Satellite Servicing Mission

Orbital ATK‘s Space Logistics subsidiary has obtained initial approval from the Federal Communications Commission to conduct in-orbit servicing on an Intelsat satellite, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

FCC authorized Space Logistics’ Mission Extension Vehicle-1 spacecraft to perform rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking with the Intelsat-901 satellite in a graveyard orbit, the report said.

Joe Anderson, Space Logistics vice president of business development and operations, told SpaceNews in an interview that FCC withheld authorization for other parts of the MEV-1 mission, including a plan to relocate Intelsat-901 and another Intelsat satellite.

Anderson added FCC deferred on some requests because Intelsat has not specified where Intelsat-901 will be placed.

International Launch Services is scheduled to launch MEV-1 in 2018 aboard a Russian Proton rocket, alongside an Orbital ATK-built Eutelsat 5 telecom satellite.