A communication satellite almost out of fuel has gotten a new life after the first space docking of its kind, per the AP. Northrop Grumman and Intelsat announced the successful link-up nearly 22,500 miles above Earth on Wednesday. It's the first time two commercial satellites have joined in orbit like this. The recently launched satellite—Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle, or MEV-1—will serve as a guide dog of sorts for its aging Intelsat companion. Company officials called it a historic moment for space commerce, akin to the three-spacewalker capture of a wayward Intelsat satellite 28 years ago. “We're pushing the boundaries of what many thought would be impossible," said Tom Wilson, president of SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman.
The Northrup Grumman satellite was launched from Kazakhstan in October. On Tuesday, it closed in on the 19-year-old Intelsat 901 satellite and clamped onto it. The duo will remain attached for the next five years. The Intelsat satellite was never designed for this kind of docking, but officials said everything went well. This novel rescue was carried out at a slightly higher orbit to avoid jeopardizing other satellites if something went wrong. Once maneuvered back down into its operational orbit, the Intelsat satellite should resume operations in another month or two. MEV-1 will move on to another satellite in need once its five-year hitch is over. Jean-Luc Froeliger, a vice president for Intelsat, said the satellite had just months of fuel remaining.
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