Orbital ATK Lands Satellite Servicing Vehicle Production Contract With Intelsat; David Thompson Comments

Orbital ATK has received a contract to build, test and launch a commercial in-space servicing vehicle for Intelsat.

Orbital ATK will work to provide satellite servicing through the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 in an effort to extend the life of in-orbit satellites, Orbital ATK said Tuesday.

“There is a vital need to service fully functional but ageing satellites in both commercial and government markets,” said David Thompson, Orbital ATK president and CEO.

MEV-1 has a docking system and is based on the Orbital ATK-built GEOStar space vehicle bus platform.

The vehicle is designed to control the attitude control and propulsion functions of in-orbit satellites to provide in-space servicing.

MEV-1 is scheduled to launch in late 2018 and start its five-year satellite extension service for Intelsat by 2019 following the completion of in-orbit tests and demonstrations.

Orbital ATK plans to incorporate MEV-1 into its planned fleet of commercial servicing vehicles that will work to perform GEO satellite servicing as well as provide repair and assembly support to in-orbit satellites.