Orbital ATK ViviSat - In Orbit Satellite Life Extension Services

Автор Apollo13, 03.03.2016 12:36:28

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Apollo13

ViviSat In Orbit Satellite Life Extension Services Fact Sheet



ViviSat Services Include:
• Rendezvous, inspection and external imagery assessment.
• Inclination "pull downs".
• Long-term station-keeping and attitude control.
• Relocation of satellites to different orbital slots or to different orbits.
• De-orbiting satellites that are at the end of their lives.
• Rescue and re-orbiting of satellites stranded in incorrect orbits.
• Significant and flexible hosted payload accommodations.

Старый

Очередная реинкарнация бредовой идеи.
1. Ангара - единственная в мире новая РН которая хуже старой (с) Старый Ламер
2. Назначение Роскосмоса - не летать в космос а выкачивать из бюджета деньги
3. У Маска ракета длиннее и толще чем у Роскосмоса
4. Чем мрачнее реальность тем ярче бред (с) Старый Ламер

Apollo13

#2
http://spacenews.com/orbital-atk-believes-in-satellite-servicing-but-not-in-rocket-reusability/

ЦитироватьOrbital ATK believes in satellite servicing, but not rocket reusability

MUNICH — Satellite and rocket builder Orbital ATK on March 1 said it would begin substantial investment this year into a commercial satellite in-orbit servicing vehicle that should be operational by early 2019 without any government development support.

...

Thompson said that, once fully operational at the end of the decade, the three projects could generate $500 million in incremental annual revenue. He declined to provide the split among the three – a new generation of precision weapons, the new launch vehicle and commercial satellite in-orbit servicing – both in terms of spending and revenue potential.

...

The satellite in-orbit servicing project has no government support now and none is expected, Thompson said. While the government will surely be a customer, the business is a conventional commercial effort.

Thompson said the company would be announcing details of the project, including one or more anchor-customer agreements, later this year.

Closing the business case on a system that would service telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit – refueling is the principal mission, but minor repairs are also a possibility – has scuttled multiple servicing projects in the past. Insurance issues abound, both for a service provider and for the company whose satellite is being serviced.

Thompson said Orbital's vehicle borrows from the company's GEOStar satellite design combined with elements from the Cygnus cargo vehicle's autonomous rendezvous technology and ATK's work on servicing NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The first of these new geosynchronous orbit-servicing vehicles will commence operations in early 2019 "if the project proceeds as expected," Thompson said.

Apollo13

Интересно а много на ГСО мертвых спутников, которые не смогли сами уйти на орбиту захоронения?

Apollo13

ЦитироватьSeerndv пишет:
- интересно, 2019г. не слишком ли оптимистично?
Кроме топлива. менять аккумуляторы, скажем, будут?
Тогда это всё надо срочно стандартизовать  ;)  
Они ничего заправлять или менять не собираются. По крайней мере на первом этапе. Идея в том чтобы взять другой спутник на абордаж и управлять им двигателями "ремонтника".


triage

#6
перенос из другой темы

было в начале марта, но тут дополнительные подробности. полная статья откроется при поиске названия в гугле 
Цитировать http://www.wsj.com/articles/orbital-atk-and-intelsat-set-to-sign-satellite-servicing-pact-1457444904
Orbital ATK and Intelsat Set to Sign Satellite Servicing Pact
Automated spacecraft would grapple and move large telecommunication satellites to help keep them flying
Updated March 8, 2016 1:57 p.m. ET
...
The Virginia-based aerospace company is close to signing a pioneering contract with Intelsat SA to use such an automated spacecraft to grapple and move large telecommunication satellites that have depleted fuel reserves, keeping them flying while also bringing in revenue for a few extra years, according to industry officials.
The tug is designed to use its own propulsion system to maintain an operational altitude of more than 20,000 miles, then disconnect and move on to rescue several other ailing satellites during a projected 15-year mission
Expected to be announced perhaps as early as next month, these officials said, the deal would cap a lengthy, uphill struggle to turn in-orbit satellite servicing into commercial reality. Despite years of delays, Orbital ATK has now committed tens of millions of dollars to build what it calls its first Mission Extension Vehicle.
...
The plan is to conduct a full-blown test of the technology in space by late 2018 and begin operations a few months later, said Tom Wilson, vice president of strategy and business development at Orbital ATK. If successful, the initiative could "change the way we manufacture satellites, and how we operate satellites," he said in an interview. "I think the market is ready for it, finally."
With dozens of big telecommunications satellites running low on fuel each year, Mr. Wilson said the company plans to build and launch four additional, more-advanced tugs by 2020. In addition to repositioning satellites, the aim is to eventually fuel or repair ailing craft with robotic technology.
....
Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Canada's MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. have all expended resources in this area. A number of U.S. government agencies, including the Pentagon's primary research arm and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also have provided seed money and encouraged development.
In early 2012, Intelsat canceled a collaborative agreement with MacDonald Detwiler intended to pave the way for what would have been a more complex satellite-refueling procedure on orbit, though the Canadian firm has continued to work on its proposed servicing vehicle.
....
From providing auxiliary propulsion to replacing satellite fluids to unfurling stuck solar arrays, automated space tugs will be poised to offer an array of services. "It's not as far-fetched as you might imagine," Mr. Weston told the audience.
тут http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/19/can-orbital-atk-turn-old-satellites-into-new-money.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004  помимо этого пишут про ранее предложенный в программе CRS2 концепт Lockheed который пролетел в том числе из-за сложности

Предыдущий проект Intelsat и MDA 2011 год http://aviationweek.com/awin/satellite-refueling-business-kicks

triage

#7
Сообщение с солнечными панелями (From providing auxiliary propulsion to replacing satellite fluids to unfurling stuck solar arrays) написали раньше чем появилась проблема с Ресурс-П №3. 
А что бы сделал этот аппарат - прилетел - потряс? Манипулятором с видеокамерой посмотрели, попытались что-то сделать?

Apollo13

http://spacenews.com/ses-tells-investors-itll-invest-in-reusable-rockets-and-satelilte-in-orbit-servicing/

ЦитироватьSES said specifically it had opened negotiations with two companies – industry officials said they are Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK's Vivisat and MDA Corp. of Canada – "to have each extend the life of one of our satellites once their services are operational."

The two in-orbit servicing projects take different approaches. Orbital ATK's Vivisat launches a small vehicle that latches onto the target communications satellite and stays attached to it, providing fuel. MDA Corp. has designed an in-orbit fuel depot that would visit satellites, fuel them and then leave to service other customers.

SES has said previously that it had been working on a connector device that it would add to its satellites to enable them to be easily grappled in orbit to allow payloads to be changed with the evolution of demand.

The company had suggested it would launch the first of these servicing-friendly devices on the SES-16, owned by LuxGovSat, a joint venture between SES and the Luxembourg government to provide connectivity to the Luxembourg Defense Ministry and other NATO allies.

The final design of SES-16, now under construction, did not include the connector. But with a 52-satellite fleet, SES needs to launch at least three satellites per year, every year, just to maintain its current business. Opportunities are not lacking.

"New satellites will include the proper receiving hardware and will deliver modules that connect to the hardware of the satellite in orbit when needed," SES said. "New satellites that are launched will act as delivery systems, disposing of the old module and installing an new module before beginning their own mission. This connector technique already exists and was used by several institutional projects."

SES ведет преговоры Орбитал АТК и MDA о продлении срока службы своих спутников. Оказывается кроме Орбитал похожую систему разрабатывает MDA. Только MDA собирается заправлять спутники, а не тягать их за шкирки.

Apollo13

http://spacenews.com/orbital-atk-signs-intelsat-as-first-satellite-servicing-customer/

 
ЦитироватьOrbital ATK signs Intelsat as first satellite servicing customer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Orbital ATK has signed Intelsat as its first customer for a revived satellite life extension program as part of the company's ambitions to create a growing market for satellite servicing for commercial and government customers.

At a press conference during the 32nd Space Symposium here, Orbital ATK said it has also established a new subsidiary to handle its satellite servicing efforts, replacing a joint venture that failed to raise sufficient funding to develop the system.

"About a month ago, Orbital ATK decided to make a substantial investment in commercial satellite in-orbit servicing, because we believe there's a real market for space logistics," said Tom Wilson, president of Space Logistics LLC, the new Orbital ATK subsidiary responsible for its satellite servicing efforts.

Orbital ATK is offering the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), a spacecraft designed to rendezvous with a commercial satellite and dock to the nozzle of its apogee kick motor and surrounding adapter ring. The MEV would then take over propulsion and attitude control for the satellite, offering up to five years of extended life.

Intelsat has agreed to be the customer for the first MEV mission, named MEV-1 and scheduled for launch in 2018. MEV-1 will first dock with a retired satellite in a graveyard orbit above stationary orbit to test its systems, then dock with an active Intelsat satellite to extend its life for five years.

"In-orbit servicing will be a valuable tool for Intelsat and for the customers which we serve," said Stephen Spengler, chief executive of Intelsat, at the press conference. "It will extend the lives of our satellites where existing technology is still viable for the applications that they serve." Intelsat had not yet identified the satellites that MEV-1 will dock with on its mission.

The MEV has been under development for several years, but previously by ViviSat, a joint venture of Orbital ATK and satellite operator U.S. Space. Wilson said the joint venture was recently dissolved because it failed to raise sufficient outside funding to continue work on the concept.

Orbital ATK is instead fully funding the MEV. David W. Thompson, president and chief executive of Orbital ATK, declined to specify how much it is spending on the MEV. He did note that the company is investing $1 billion in research and development programs, and that the MEV is "one of the larger components" of that overall effort. He added the company expects to sell at least five MEVs over the next five years.


The effort does have challenges beyond the technical development of the MEV itself. Wilson said that no government agency currently has the responsibility to regulate satellite servicing activities. "We've been working with the U.S. government for a long time now," he said. "We expect to be sort of a pathfinder in that perspective, working with the U.S. government to figure out how to get a mission license to execute the mission."

Thompson billed satellite servicing as a new market that will expand over time to include both government and commercial satellites, and move beyond simple life extension to refueling and repair of spacecraft. "We're really just at the beginning of developing what I think will be an important line of business for the company over the next couple of decades," he said.
Первым пользователем системы станет Intelsat в 2018. Систему сначала протестируют на отслужившем свое спутнике на орбите захоронения, а затем используют для продления на 5 лет эксплуатации рабочего спутника на ГСО. Планируется продать как минимум 5 MEV в течение пяти лет.

PIN

Цитироватьpnetmon пишет:
А что бы сделал этот аппарат - прилетел - потряс?
Ничего. Речь идет о ГСО. Где средняя стоимость аппаратов иная.

Salo

"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"


triage

#13
ну вот еще по сервисным услугам на орбите, тут уже деньги НАСА, запуск не ранее 2019 года.

 http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/restore-l-info_nnh15heomd001_r7.pdf
 http://ssco.gsfc.nasa.gov/restore-L.html

Цитировать http://spacenews.com/nasa-cuts-funds-for-mars-landing-technology-work/
....
That cut, he said, was required by the outcome of the fiscal year 2016 appropriations bill completed last December. NASA received $686.5 million for space technology, an increase of about $90 million from 2015. However, Congress moved the RESTORE-L satellite servicing from NASA's space operations budget account to space technology, and directed NASA spend $133 million, or nearly 20 percent of the overall space technology budget, on it.
...
In his talk, he warned that NASA's space technology program is facing another budget crunch in 2017. NASA requested $826.7 million for the program, but a spending bill approved by Senate appropriators April 21 provides $686.5 million, the same level as 2016. That bill also requires $130 million of that be spent on RESTORE-L, double the agency's request. 
....

Валерий Жилинский

ЦитироватьApollo13 пишет:
http://spacenews.com/ses-tells-investors-itll-invest-in-reusable-rockets-and-satelilte-in-orbit-servicing/
ЦитироватьSES said specifically it had opened negotiations with two companies – industry officials said they are Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK's Vivisat and MDA Corp. of Canada – "to have each extend the life of one of our satellites once their services are operational."

The two in-orbit servicing projects take different approaches. Orbital ATK's Vivisat launches a small vehicle that latches onto the target communications satellite and stays attached to it, providing fuel. MDA Corp. has designed an in-orbit fuel depot that would visit satellites, fuel them and then leave to service other customers.
....
SES ведет преговоры Орбитал АТК и MDA о продлении срока службы своих спутников. Оказывается кроме Орбитал похожую систему разрабатывает MDA. Только MDA собирается заправлять спутники, а не тягать их за шкирки.
Как раз MDA первой попыталась поднять этот проект. Но потом аналогичный проект затеяли в НАСА,  и MDA осталась без стартового заказчика. А сейчас конгресс зарубл финансирование проекта НАСА, и спутниковые операторы проявили свои интересы, а MDA задумалась о смене базовой юрисдикции. Кстати, это очень интересная тема, чтобы подумать о влиянии политики на совместную работу в космосе. НАСА не хотело отдавать этот проект в руки компании, принадлежащей самому близкому союзнику штатов, но мерилось с поставкой ракетных двигателей для самых ответственных ПН  из России. Вот так, на самом деле, обстоит ситуация с взаимоотношениями частного и государственного космоса.

PIN

ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
НАСА не хотело отдавать этот проект в руки компании, принадлежащей самому близкому союзнику штатов
Для НАСА, как и любого национального агенства, юридически проблемно отдавать бюджетные деньги за границу. 

ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
но мерилось с поставкой ракетных двигателей для самых ответственных ПН
Разве НАСА покупает эти двигатели? Полагаю, агенство покупает услуги.

Валерий Жилинский

ЦитироватьSOE пишет:
ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
НАСА не хотело отдавать этот проект в руки компании, принадлежащей самому близкому союзнику штатов
Для НАСА, как и любого национального агенства, юридически проблемно отдавать бюджетные деньги за границу.
Первоначально MDA не расчитывало на деньги НАСА, у них был частный заказчик, финансировавший экспериментальный аппарат, который ушёл. когда разработкой технологии заинтересовалось НАСА. Но потом просочилась информация о том, что хотело сделать НАСА, по сравнению с MDA это выглядело весьма скромно.Но в любом случае получался продвинутый спутник-инспектор. Мне показалось, что НАСА заинтересовалось технологией именно с этой стороны.

ЦитироватьSOE пишет:
ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
но мерилось с поставкой ракетных двигателей для самых ответственных ПН
Разве НАСА покупает эти двигатели? Полагаю, агенство покупает услуги.
Как я понимаю, в рамках классических взаимоотношений НАСА все же именно покупает ракеты. Но формально двигатель ULA покупает у американской фирмы-прокладки, и даже был скандал, связанный с тем, что НАСА покупает двигатель намного дороже, чем его покупают в России.

PIN

ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
Как я понимаю, в рамках классических взаимоотношений НАСА все же именно покупает ракеты
Можно ссылочку в подтверждение? То, что я вижу после быстрого и поверхностного поиска - "launch services", например
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-next-tracking-data-relay-satellite

triage

ЦитироватьВалерий Жилинский пишет:
Как раз MDA первой попыталась поднять этот проект. Но потом аналогичный проект затеяли в НАСА,и MDA осталась без стартового заказчика.
А когда это было... И проект НАСА - а НАСА каким боком к коммерческим проектам и так чтобы коммерческий заказщик мог удовлетворится тем что сделает НАСА который не обслуживает коммерцию.

Salo

#19
http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/10/14/orbital-atk-books-proton-rocket-for-first-commercial-satellite-servicing-mission/
ЦитироватьOrbital ATK books Proton rocket for first commercial satellite servicing mission             
 October 14, 2016 Stephen Clark    
 
Artist's concept of Orbital ATK's Mission Extension Vehicle docked with a commercial communications satellite. Credit: Orbital ATK

Armed with capital and an anchor customer for a trailblazing satellite life extension service, Orbital ATK has signed a contract to loft its first robotic servicing tug aboard a Russian Proton rocket in 2018 on a shared launch with a Eutelsat communications satellite.
The Proton rocket and its Breeze M upper stage will send Orbital ATK's Mission Extension Vehicle toward geosynchronous orbit, a ring of satellites stationed more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over Earth's equator, where an object's speed is the same as Earth's rotation, allowing a satellite to hover over the same spot throughout its mission.
Orbital ATK and International Launch Services, the U.S.-based company charged with marketing Proton launches on the commercial market, announced the contract Tuesday.
The Mission Extension Vehicle will dock with multiple aging Intelsat communications satellites running low on fuel, keeping the telecom stations pointed correctly and potentially pushing the spacecraft into new positions to cover different regions.
Intelsat and Orbital ATK, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Space Logistics LLC, unveiled the landmark satellite servicing agreement in April.
It is the closest a commercial satellite life extension service has come to launching, and Orbital ATK chief executive David Thompson has said he is committed to the concept, which officials said was bolstered by the merger of Orbital Sciences Corp. and ATK in early 2015.
The first Mission Extension Vehicle, named MEV 1, will blast off in the fourth quarter of 2018 on a Proton rocket fr om the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Eutelsat 5 West B satellite, also manufactured by Orbital ATK, will be stacked on top of the MEV 1 spacecraft for the first all-commercial dual-payload launch by an ILS Proton.
...

Спойлер
Satellite servicing tug slated for highly-anticipated demo
The MEV 1 spacecraft mounted in the lower position on the 2018 dual-launch will have a launch weight around 4,400 pounds, or 2 metric tons, with about half that mass made up of gaseous and liquid propellants for the satellite's electric propulsion pods and conventional chemical thrusters.
Intelsat has agreed to use the MEV 1 spacecraft for five years in an agreement that allows the servicing tug to dock with multiple Intelsat satellites.
The Mission Extension Vehicle idea comes from ATK, which established a joint company in 2010 named ViviSat with U.S. Space LLC, a financing shop. While ATK performed ground tests for the satellite servicing concept, ViviSat never took off, and Orbital ATK opted to shutter the company earlier this year after deciding to pursue the Mission Extension Vehicle idea on its own.
But U.S. Space filed a lawsuit against Orbital ATK in April, alleging that Orbital ATK improperly took control of ViviSat and shut it down after the merger between Orbital Sciences and ATK.
Orbital ATK officials say the merger opened new opportunities for the satellite servicing system, allowing engineers to combine expertise to make the MEV closer to reality. For example, the MEV 1 mission will relay on satellite components already proven in space, such as Orbital Sciences' GEOStar satellite bus and autonomous rendezvous and tracking instruments flown on the Cygnus space station cargo ship and the U.S. Air Force's Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, or GSSAP, a fleet of four Orbital ATK-built satellites designed to track and inspect other spacecraft more than 20,000 miles up.
The MEV also uses a docking structure based on devices developed by ATK for space shuttle servicing flights to the Hubble Space Telescope.
 
An illustration of the MEV's docking system latching on to the apogee engine of a commercial communications satellite. Credit: Orbital ATK

Sensing the promise of the satellite servicing concept, Orbital ATK executives identified the MEV as one of several major growth initiatives, committing to infuse the program with corporate funds to finish its development.
"This program is a great example of the new revenue opportunities created by our merger," said David Thompson, Orbital ATK's president and CEO, in a conference call with investors earlier this year.
The first MEV is entirely privately-funded, officials said, but Orbital ATK has government study contracts that could add features for later MEVs to replace payload packages or solar arrays on old satellites in orbit.
"We went out and did get some market-based financing," said Tom Wilson, chief executive of Space Logistics and a vice president of business development at Orbital ATK. "Some people were interested in participating, but when we really took a step back and looked at it, we decided it was best, at least for the very first one, if we just did it ourselves. Let's prove to the market it can be done, and let's move out with the anchor customer and go do it."
The MEV completed its first system design review in June, and Orbital ATK has placed orders for long-lead items for the first spacecraft. Thompson said in August that the schedule, cost and technical performance on the project are proceeding as planned, with launch on track for the fourth quarter of 2018 and the start of operations in early 2019.
Assembly of the MEV will be at Orbital ATK's main satellite factory in Dulles, Virginia.
The key to making Orbital ATK's satellite servicing concept realistic and affordable is that it does not require engineers to invent new technology, officials said.
"If things proceed as planned, the first of an eventual fleet of up to five of these geosynchronous orbit servicing vehicles will commence operations following launch in early 2019 with four more such vehicles to follow in 2020 and 2021," Thompson said.
According to Wilson, follow-on MEVs could launch in pairs on Proton or Falcon 9 rockets. The MEV could also launch one at a time on Ariane 5 rockets, in tandem with a larger communications satellite.
Orbital ATK is in talks with other commercial satellite operators and the U.S. government as potential customers for MEVs after Intelsat.
Once its post-launch orbit-raising maneuvers are complete, MEV 1's first destination will be a decommissioned, but still active, Intelsat satellite parked in a "graveyard" orbit several hundred miles above the geostationary belt.
The Mission Extension Vehicle will approach the satellite, acquiring the target with its suite of optical and laser sensors to move in for an automated rendezvous.
"It's essentially a dead satellite, but (Intelsat) is keeping it warm," Wilson said in an interview with Spaceflight Now earlier this year. "We'll go and prove the system out. That will take about a month, then we'll go rendezvous and dock with the first client."
 
A test article of the Mission Extension Vehicle docking system (right) is seen during a ground test with a mock-up of a satellite's apogee engine (left). Credit: Orbital ATK

The MEV is different from other satellite servicing concepts because it is strictly used for steering, pointing and relocating another spacecraft that is running low on propellant. The servicer will not refuel Intelsat's satellites, which were never designed for dockings.
The Mission Extension Vehicle will latch on to the apogee kick motor of each client satellite, an engine mounted to the base of about 80 percent of the communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The thruster is only used in the first few weeks after launch to put the satellite into its final orbit, then never fired again.
The approaching spacecraft will have a stinger that reaches into the apogee rocket engine's nozzle from about 3 feet (1 meter) out, and mechanical fingers will reach out and grab the target craft to pull the two satellites together, Wilson said.
A structural stanchion will carry the load between the two spacecraft.
The MEV has two deployable propulsion pods with efficient electric thrusters, little engines that generate very low thrust but can operate for hours or days at a time. There is also a small tank of liquid hydrazine fuel on-board, mainly for higher-impulse maneuvers during the docking sequence.
Once the satellites are docked, the MEV takes over attitude control and propulsion responsibilities, acting like a jet pack for the customer spacecraft.
"We dock, and we extend the life, but there are other services we can provide," Wilson said. "We can remove inclination, so if a satellite is drifting inclined, we can go get it at 3, 4 or 5 degrees of inclination, we can get it and bring it back to zero (over the equator). We can also take a satellite and move it, so if it's over Europe or Africa, we can move it to be over Asia to bring a new market into use or to test out a new market."
Under the terms of the Intelsat contract, MEV 1 could dock and undock with multiple Intelsat satellites over a five-year period, then move on to serve another customer. Each MEV has enough fuel to operate for 15-to-20 years, Wilson said.
Intelsat has identified a few satellites that could use help from MEV 1, but officials do not plan to announce them until the mission is closer to launch, according to Ken Lee, Intelsat's senior vice president of space systems.
Intelsat has experience with satellite servicing before.
Astronauts on the maiden flight of space shuttle Endeavour in 1992 attached a new rocket motor to the Intelsat 603 communications craft stranded in a low orbit by a launch failure, allowing the satellite to reach its operating post in geosynchronous orbit and relay television channels and telephone calls until it was retired in 2015.
Intelsat was also a prospective customer for Canada's MDA Corp., which scaled back its vision to refuel satellites in orbit.
"We're really excited about the capability," Lee said of Orbital ATK's Mission Extension Vehicle. "From our perspective, it's one of the tools in our toolkit, so not all our satellites will have this business plan, but there are certain spacecraft that may suit well for this capability.
"We've been a strong proponent of developing this capability for many, many years," Lee told Spaceflight Now in August. "It's not new for us."
Lee said there are more questions about the economic viability of satellite servicing than the technologies involved.
"Our technical assessment of this capability is we don't consider this to be high-risk," Lee said. "The technology is there today, and in fact, using it in GEO (geosynchronous orbit) is a lot easier than using it in LEO (low Earth orbit) for a lot of reasons. We don't view it as a huge technical challenge. I think the challenge here is with the business model.
"How do you generate enough revenue providing a service like this? I think, if the business model works out OK, there could be a further interest on our part."
Wilson said Mission Extension Vehicle is a service-based business, with customers paying for a year of service at a time.
In the current paradigm, satellite operators must order new satellites years before an existing satellite runs out of fuel or dies.
"They would have to put capital down to build another satellite to replace an existing satellite," Wilson said. "(With the MEV), they can defer that now for a period of time wh ere, in this case, they can bring another market into play and test a new market out."
Lee dismissed questions about the relevance of communications payloads aboard satellites that, in some cases, are 15 or more years old and launched before the arrival of smartphones and widespread broadband Internet.
"The applications are evolving, but the satellites are not obsolete," Lee said. "The reason is because we designed the spacecraft to have an open architecture, and they can support a multitude of applications. We don't anticipate any of the spacecraft that we're designing to become obsolete. They are just going to be evolving."
He pointed to operational members of Intelsat's constellation, which has more than 50 active satellites, that have been in space for decades.
"I think we're pretty bullish about this," Lee said. "The fact that the Intelsat 9-series (launched from 2001 through 2003), and even older generations, are still relevant today shows you the value of this idea."
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"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

triage

Цитироватьhttp://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/MEV/default.aspx?prid=180
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. Scheduled to launch in 2018, the MEV-1 will begin its mission extension service for Intelsat, S.A., one of the world's leading commercial satellite providers. Under terms of the fiv-year contract, the MEV-1 will provide life extension services to an Intelsat satellite with the option to service multiple satellites using the same MEV vehicle.
Controlled by the company's satellite operations team, the MEV-1 uses a reliable, low-risk docking system that attaches to existing features on a customer's satellite. It provides docked life extension services by taking over the propulsion and attitude control functions. Other capabilities include inspection and external imagery assessment, relocation of customer satellites to different orbital slots or to different orbits, and inclination pull-down services. Based on the company's GEOStar spacecraft bus platform, the vehicle has a 15-year design life with the ability to perform numerous dockings and undockings during its life span.
....
Цитироватьhttps://youtu.be/d_DDmu-c5-Q https://youtu.be/d_DDmu-c5-Q
Uploaded on Jan 24, 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.


zandr

https://lenta.ru/news/2017/12/13/intelsat901/
ЦитироватьСША спасут атакованный Россией международный спутник
Американская Orbital ATK получила лицензию Федеральной комиссии по связи США на техническое обслуживание спутника, атакованного российским космическим аппаратом «Луч» и находящегося на орбите захоронения, сообщает Space News.
Разрешение регулятора предусматривает выделение для сервисного транспортного средства MEV-1 (Mission Extension Vehicle 1), находящегося на этапе выведения спутника Intelsat 901 с орбиты захоронения, четырех радиочастот слежения, телеметрии и управления (TT&C).
Предусматривается, что MEV-1 выполнит «подлет, бесконтактные операции и стыковку с Intelsat 901».
В результате MEV-1 должно обеспечить Intelsat 901 топливом, достаточным для корректировки орбиты и работы спутника в течение пяти лет.
После этого Intelsat 901 планируется вернуть на орбиту захоронения, после чего сервисное средство приступит к обслуживанию другого спутника, который пока не определен. Вероятно, им также станет один из спутников международного оператора Intelsat (штаб-квартира расположена в Люксембурге).
Запуск MEV-1 в паре со спутником Eutelsat 5 запланирован на конец 2018 года на российской ракете «Протон-М». После выведения на орбиту сервисное средство в течение двух-трех месяцев будет работать в основном на электрическом ракетном двигателе, после чего на протяжении двух-четырех недель пройдут испытания связки MEV-1 и Intelsat 901, в том числе с использованием химических двигателей.
Спойлер
Для полного одобрения сервисной миссии Orbital ATK должна получить еще лицензию от Национального управления океанических и атмосферных исследований США. Разрешение второго регулятора необходимо, поскольку на MEV-1 установлены камеры для отслеживания стыковки с Intelsat 901, которые одновременно могут использоваться для дистанционного зондирования Земли.
В Intelsat отмечают, что продление сроков службы спутников позволяет уделить больше времени на разработку новых высокотехнологичных аппаратов, а также обеспечивает большую гибкость в планировании запусков.
Разработкой MEV-1 занимается подразделение Space Logistic американской компании Orbital ATK (куплена Northrop Grumman). Срок службы сервисного средства оценивается в 15 лет.
Телекоммуникационный спутник Intelsat 901, запущенный в 2001 году на ракете Ariane 4, обеспечивает телевизионное вещание в Северной и Южной Америке, Европе, Африке и на Ближнем Востоке. Запланированный срок службы аппарата составляет 15 лет. Оператор в сентябре 2017 года запустил аппарат Intelsat 37e — высокопроизводительную замену Intelsat 901.
В апреле 2015 года, по данным Space News, спутник «Луч» оказался на расстоянии около десяти километров от Intelsat 901, из-за чего Пентагон посчитал российский аппарат противоспутниковым оружием.
Спутник «Луч» двойного назначения, о котором сообщает издание, запущен в 2014 году на ракете «Протон-М». Спутник создан в рамках Федеральной космической программы России на 2006-2015 годы для связи с российским сегментом Международной космической станции и низкоорбитальными космическими аппаратами.
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Брабонт

ЦитироватьЧебурашка пишет:
Это в умору надо.
Это целенаправленный заход заокеанских друзей на "обеспечение защиты от возможных угроз" и прочего резильенса.
Пропитый день обмену и возврату не подлежит

tnt22

https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=317
Цитировать
Orbital ATK Receives Order for Second In-Orbit Satellite Servicing Vehicle
Intelsat Commits to Second Life Extension Mission

Dulles, Virginia 4 January 2018 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced it has been awarded a contract for a second Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-2). The vehicle was ordered by Intelsat S.A. to provide life extension services for an Intelsat satellite. Orbital ATK is now producing MEV-1, the industry's first commercial in-space satellite servicing system, for Intelsat with launch scheduled for late 2018. Under this new agreement, Orbital ATK will manufacture, test and launch MEV-2 and begin mission extension services in mid-2020. The production of the second MEV is part of Orbital ATK's longer-range plan to establish a fleet of in-orbit servicing vehicles that can address diverse space logistics needs including repair, assembly, refueling and in-space transportation.
Спойлер
"Work on MEV-1 is progressing rapidly toward a late 2018 launch with system-level testing beginning this spring," said Tom Wilson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Logistics, LLC subsidiary. "With the launch of MEV-2, Orbital ATK will continue to pioneer in-space satellite servicing for commercial operators. Intelsat's commitment to a second MEV demonstrates not only the market demand for our servicing vehicles, but also the customer's confidence in our product."

Through its Space Logistics subsidiary, Orbital ATK will introduce in-orbit commercial satellite servicing with MEV-1 late this year. The MEV is based on the company's GEOStarTM spacecraft platform, and controlled by the company's satellite operations team. The MEV uses a reliable, low-risk docking system that attaches to existing features on a customer's satellite, and provides life-extending services by taking over the orbit maintenance and attitude control functions of the client's spacecraft. Each MEV vehicle has a 15 year design life with the ability to perform numerous dockings and repositionings during its life span.

"Intelsat was an early proponent of the potential for mission extension technology," said Ken Lee, Intelsat's Senior Vice President, Space Systems. "In-orbit life extension, such as that provided by our two contracts with Orbital ATK, provides additional flexibility to our fleet management, allowing us to direct capital to new satellites while continuing to generate economic value from satellites in orbit. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Orbital ATK on commercializing this important new service."

The work performed on MEV-2 will span multiple locations across the company. Orbital ATK's spacecraft components division will be responsible for manufacturing the structures, propellant tanks and solar arrays at the company's locations in San Diego and Goleta, California. The Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD) laboratory, located at the company's headquarters in Dulles, Virginia, will test the sensors, actuators and control algorithms that allow the MEV to approach and dock with the client spacecraft.

Orbital ATK plans to expand its satellite servicing capabilities to address additional in-orbit needs of customers. The company is investing significant internal capital and, through a NASA Space Act Agreement, working with U.S. government agencies to develop and implement new capabilities for the MEV fleet. These include next-generation life extension and repair vehicles, in-orbit assembly of large space structures and cargo delivery and related services to deep space gateways, such as in lunar orbit.
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Salo

"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

tnt22

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 17 сент.

Frank DeMauro, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems: first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) should be in orbit in "several months" time; MEV-2 in production for launch in early 2020.
#AIAASpace