Northrop Grumman Launches Robotic Servicing Vehicle Toward Geosynchronous Orbit
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday carrying Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods, a mission built to prolong the working lives of multiple satellites already in geosynchronous orbit. The launch marks one of the first operational robotic satellite servicing efforts aimed at that altitude, roughly 22,000 miles up.
The Mission Robotic Vehicle carries the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites payload, a pair of robotic arms with an array of tool attachments developed at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory with financial backing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Following deployment, the vehicle and its pods will spend a year traveling out to geosynchronous Earth orbit before servicing operations begin.
The concept behind the payload goes back more than 20 years, when the Naval Research Laboratory began examining whether two uncrewed spacecraft could perform autonomous rendezvous and docking. That work evolved through a study called RescueSat and later the Spacecraft for the Universal Modification of Orbits, or SUMO, program. "The SUMO mandate was daunting. DARPA challenged us to design a robot that could dock with any satellite in space," said Glen Henshaw, the laboratory's lead space roboticist for the program. "We then realized a universal truth, every satellite got to space on a rocket." By targeting the launch vehicle interface plane, the structural ring or explosive bolt holes that attach a spacecraft to a rocket, engineers determined a robotic arm could grapple almost any spacecraft without damaging delicate instruments.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 is scheduled during a four-hour window that opens at 5:15 p.m. EDT, with the rocket flying due east from the pad. SpaceX will use Falcon 9 first stage booster B1069 on its 32nd and final flight. The company said this would be the booster's last mission due to the additional performance needed to launch the payloads to geosynchronous transfer orbit. B1069 previously flew NASA's CRS-24 mission, Eutelsat's Hotbird 13F, OneWeb Mission 15, and SES-18 and 19, along with 27 batches of Starlink satellites.
Once in geosynchronous orbit, the Mission Robotic Vehicle will begin installing Mission Extension Pods onto client spacecraft, including satellites owned by Australia-based Optus and Luxembourg-based SES. The pods carry fresh supplies of maneuvering fuel and are designed to provide up to eight years of additional life for a satellite. The vehicle can also perform inspection, relocation, repairs, and upgrades. The program traces through the Front End Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration effort, which developed spaceflight-worthy robotic arms through Alliance Spacesystems, the company that built the arms for NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. Environmental testing began in 2008. In 2019, DARPA selected SpaceLogistics, a Northrop Grumman company, to combine the payload with the Mission Robotic Vehicle.
DARPA has framed the capability around ultra-close inspection, orbital relocation described as a "tow truck" function, mechanical anomaly repair, and upgrading satellites not originally designed to be upgraded. Rather than decommissioning a high-value satellite when it runs low on fuel, operators could extend its service life in place. The Naval Research Laboratory and DARPA backing signals the effort is treated as a national security priority.
Following initial checkouts, the program will be turned over to the U.S. Space Force in support of its Servicing, Mobility, and Logistics portfolio.