Air and Space: This Satellite Tow Truck Could Be the Start of a Multibilion-Dollar Business

Air and Space: This Satellite Tow Truck Could Be the Start of a Multibilion-Dollar Business

By Michael Behar

In February, a new type of spacecraft flew toward its client. Its name is MEV-1, or Mission Extension Vehicle 1. The Intelsat IS-901 was its client. It is a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, and it had run out of fuel. MEV-1 would dock on the satellite and use its electric thrusters to tow the satellite around in orbit for a few more years at which time it would drag the satellite further out to the "satellite graveyard" and find a new client. Northrop Grumman is the company that built it, and the motivation came out of the fact that satellites are super expensive. If a new satellite has a few kinks during its beginning stages, vehicles like MEV-1 could help fix it, saving a company millions.

    Other vehicles by NASA and DARPA are set to launch in 2022. These will have a more diverse range of features, such as refueling and space construction. The NASA OSAM-1 would have robotic arms that cut through the padding on a satellite's fuel hatch to refuel it. During its first mission, it will also use its arms to assemble an antennae and spacecraft.

    Some researchers also believe that the new technology could help us get to other planets. Right now, spacecraft and satellites are very bulky and require many special features to survive the stress of leaving Earth's atmosphere. If they could simply be assembled in space, it would make the loads much lighter and the designs simpler.