MEV-1

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• International Launch Services and Khrunichev launched a Proton to supersynchronous transfer orbit on Oct 9, 2019 and deployed two payloads built by Northrop Grumman/Dulles (formerly Orbital Sciences).
• MEV-1, the Mission Extension Vehicle, is a Northrop Grumman experimental satellite which will rendezvous and dock with the Intelsat 901 satellite in GEO in order to extend its operational lifetime.
• The Northrop Grumman MEV-1 satellite approached within 5 km of its target satellite Intelsat 901 on Feb 18, 2020. After several practice approaches, MEV-1 successfully docked with Intelsat 901 on Feb 25 at 0715 UTC. MEV-1 will remain attached to I-901 to provide attitude control and propulsion, extending the communications satellite′s useful life. I-901 raised itself out of GEO on Dec 11, 2019 to participate in the experiment. The satellites are in a 36080 x 36099 km x 1.6 deg orbit, drifting 4 degrees west a day over Indonesia.

External links:

• Satellite tracking (n2ya.com): Real time satellite tracking