Author Topic: SpaceLogistics MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : GEOsat servicing  (Read 69359 times)

Offline savuporo

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #20 on: 05/10/2016 07:33 am »
It will require the satellite not only to have propellant access, but also data, thermal and power hooks for the new payload and have surplus control authority. I bet that OrbitalATK can be an excellent partner for this sort of system.

This is the part that i don't get. How do you 'hook' into data and power bus of a satellite, unless you have been building birds with this in mind for decades ?
The video even explicitly says 'no power, data, fluid transfer or other interfaces are required' - which i presume applies only to the docking part.
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Offline TrevorMonty

Here is presentation  about OA satellite  servicing, prior to Vivisat separation.

Jim Armor, Orbital ATK at the Space Innovation Business Summit" 2015



Besides extending an existing satellite life, it can also be used as space tug by moving satellites  to different orbits then releasing them. This allows satellite to move orbits without expending precious station keeping fuel.

Long term goals are servicing, repairing, refuelling  and inspecting satellites.  Mk1 service vehicle may already support inspections.

Hosted payloads allows for extra revenue, especially between jobs when service vehicle is free to point anywhere.

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Offline baldusi

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #22 on: 05/10/2016 01:18 pm »
It will require the satellite not only to have propellant access, but also data, thermal and power hooks for the new payload and have surplus control authority. I bet that OrbitalATK can be an excellent partner for this sort of system.

This is the part that i don't get. How do you 'hook' into data and power bus of a satellite, unless you have been building birds with this in mind for decades ?
The video even explicitly says 'no power, data, fluid transfer or other interfaces are required' - which i presume applies only to the docking part.
Please read the full context of my post. I was referring to SES vision for the future where they do include that sort of interfaces on every bird they send. Thus, each new satellite could take up new payloads for other crafts. This was SES vision of the future.
Orbital current mission proposal is more about propellant, attitude control and debris retirement.

Offline TrevorMonty

MUOS-5 could be a candidate for Orbital servicing satellite.

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #24 on: 07/09/2016 02:33 pm »
MUOS-5 could be a candidate for Orbital servicing satellite.


Isn't a little early since we do not yet know the cause of the anomaly, and if they can overcome/work around it?
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Offline baldusi

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #25 on: 07/09/2016 05:50 pm »
Specially since they are still on a GTO. That still requires a GTO circularizaton (~1,800m/s delta-v). And the GTO are usually low lived, so you can't take much time. So you'd need to have a bird ready to launch. I seriously doubt it.

Offline Sam Ho

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #26 on: 07/09/2016 06:35 pm »
Specially since they are still on a GTO. That still requires a GTO circularizaton (~1,800m/s delta-v). And the GTO are usually low lived, so you can't take much time. So you'd need to have a bird ready to launch. I seriously doubt it.
MUOS-5 had an unusual GTO (3903x35654km at 19 degrees) and an unusual operational orbit (IGSO at 5 degrees).  As such, both the initial GTO and its present orbit (15249x35710km at 10 degrees) have essentially infinite lifespans.  Also, the delta-V from GTO to final IGSO was only around 1300m/s; it's about halfway there right now.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=40693.0
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33818.0
http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=41622
http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=41622
http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/

Offline Archibald

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #27 on: 07/10/2016 08:02 am »
Satellite servicing is fascinating, but it has been discussed since the 60's. Maybe in today space boom it may have its chance, at last.
Satellite servicing is cool because it makes boring communication satellites interesting - they can be targets for hardware to support BEO exploration.
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Offline Sam Ho

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #28 on: 08/11/2016 12:37 am »
The big news in the OA conference call this quarter was the $400M accounting error on the US Army ammo contract, but there was some space news.  The in-orbit servicing schedule is pretty much the same as last quarter.
Quote
Our Space Systems Group early in the second quarter announced a five-year contract with Intelsat as the first customer for this satellite servicing system. Late in the second quarter, we completed a first system design review and placed long-lead material orders for the first of these satellite servicing vehicles, which is on track for delivery and launch in the final quarter of 2018; and after a checkout period, the commencement of service in the early 2019. Schedules, cost and the technical performance are proceeding as planned on that project at present.

Offline Sam Ho

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Offline TrevorMonty

This show has lot of information about OA satellite servicing.

http://www.thespaceshow.com/show/31-oct-2016/broadcast-2804-jim-armor

The 2700kg servicing vehicle is based on electric GEO satellite bus. Besides providing propulsion for sats, there are few ideas for using it.
1) deliver cubesats to GEO on its delivery launch.
2) carry technology demonstration payloads, these could be ejected once finished with.
3) rescue satellites stuck in GTO due to propulsion problems. Been a few of these cases. US govt and insurance companies might pay to have one that can launched at short notice, for this scenario.

4) in orbit refuelling. Long term goal.

5) a satellite doesn't need to hold fuel back for disposal to graveyard orbit if service vehicle can do it.

6) visual inspection of faulty satellites.

I was surprised to hear there was market for operational old satellites. Lease them out to customers that don't need latest broadcast technology at reduced price. Of course limited fuel was always issue, which service vehicles overcomes.




Offline Sam Ho

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #32 on: 11/08/2016 08:23 pm »
From the OA non-earnings conference call today:
Quote
And finally in our space systems group about earlier this year we announced a five-year contract with Intelsat, the first customer for our in space commercial satellite servicing system. We recently completed the designed review for the first servicing vehicle and secured a launch contract for it in late 2018.

If things proceed as planned, the first of an eventual fleet of up to five of these geosynchronous orbit servicing vehicles will commence operations in early 2019 followed by four more vehicles some with enhanced capabilities that will follow in 2020 and 2021.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4021177-orbital-atks-oa-ceo-dave-thompson-q3-2016-results-earnings-call-transcript

Offline primer_black

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #33 on: 11/29/2016 03:16 pm »
Not sure if this should be a new thread, but OA is working with NASA to extend the MEV servicing capabilities to include on-orbit assembly:

http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=204

Quote
Dulles, Virginia 29 November 2016 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that it has begun a public-private partnership with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) to establish a Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic Assembly and Services (CIRAS) in space. The CIRAS program will advance key technologies for in-orbit manufacturing and assembly of large space structures that will help the agency meet its goals for robotic and human exploration of the solar system.

...

Phase one of CIRAS began in September 2016 and will last a total of two years. During this period, Orbital ATK will lead the team in maturing technologies necessary for robotic assembly of large space structures, such as next-generation telescopes or solar-powered structures for transport or communications. These capabilities include methods to connect or disconnect joints on a structure and address precision measuring and alignment through a 15-meter robotic arm and a precision robot. The team will also develop the technology needed to conduct in-orbit modular assembly of structures, allowing parts to be brought to space as needed via multiple launches, which simplifies the design of spacecraft and reduces cost.

Online catdlr

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #34 on: 01/26/2017 04:42 am »
MEV Mission Profile

Orbital ATK

Published on Jan 25, 2017
In less than a year after announcing its first customer contract, Orbital ATK has made significant progress in developing its new satellite life extension service. The innovative technology, a first in the industry, gives satellite operators the capability to extend the life of a healthy satellite. Orbital ATK remains on track to introduce its in-orbit satellite servicing system with the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1). The vehicle is currently under production at the company’s satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia.



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Online catdlr

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #35 on: 01/26/2017 04:43 am »
MEV Robotic Simulation

Orbital ATK

Published on Jan 25, 2017
See how our in-orbit mission extension vehicle (MEV), the industry's first, will work with this robotic simulation at our Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking Laboratory in Dulles, Virginia.



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Offline Sam Ho

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #36 on: 05/30/2017 11:25 pm »
Some mention in the conference call May 11:
Quote
With regard to the satellite servicing program, the technical work is proceeding very well. The final design review of the system is coming up next month in June. We have set up a very helpful rendezvous and docking laboratory at our Dallas, Virginia satellite campus to test out both some of the docking hardware and also the control system software that we will be using, and things remain on track for the delivery to the launch site and the launch of the first satellite servicing vehicle at the end of next year. After a multi-month-long commissioning and checkout period, it will be placed into service to extend the life of Intelsat spacecraft in the -- about this time or a little earlier than this time in the first quarter of 2019. We are contemplating starting on a second servicing vehicle later this year. We haven't finalized those plans yet. But we continue to proceed along the lines of having a small fleet of up to 5 of these servicing systems in orbit by -- over the next 4, 5 years, some of which will have advanced capabilities, robotic capabilities beyond those of the first and second satellites. Customer demand for this type of in-space servicing continues to be good, and so the outlook is favorable for that new product initiative.

There's certainly customer demand now for those services beyond what can be provided by the first vehicle. So I think it's likely we'll see additional customer commitments before the end of 2017.
transcript

Offline Sam Ho

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #37 on: 08/04/2017 01:00 am »
Comments from today's earnings call:
Quote
Finally, in space systems early last year we initiated our commercial satellite servicing program with INTELSAT in Oregon to a five year contract as our anchor customer. Late last year we completed the initial design for the first vehicle we recently finalized the design that are now well into construction of that first mission extension vehicle that Garrett referred to. If things proceed as planned it will be the first of an eventual fleet of up to five of these geosynchronous orbit servicing vehicles this first one being launched late next year and commencing operations about 18 months from now in the early part of 2019.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4094384-orbital-atks-oa-ceo-dave-thompson-q2-2017-results-earnings-call-transcript

Offline rayleighscatter

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Re: MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) : In space GEOsat servicing
« Reply #38 on: 08/10/2017 11:52 pm »
A pair of OA fact sheets. The first is about hosted payloads on the MEV spacecraft, and the second is about the CiRAS on orbit repair work.


Offline TrevorMonty

Fiso podcast on this robotic arm

http://spirit.as.utexas.edu/~fiso/archivelist.htm

18may16

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