Northrop Grumman Corporation’s SpaceLogistics LLC has received the robotics payload from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), including two robotic arms and electronics, for its Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV). The delivery brings the company one step closer to delivering the first commercial spacecraft with robotic servicing capabilities for commercial and government satellites. In geosynchronous earth orbit (22,500 miles above Earth), MRV will inspect, relocate, repair and offer other in-space servicing missions, including the installation of the company’s Mission Extension Pods to sustain existing capabilities on-orbit. Once the robotics payload, developed for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites program, is fully integrated, the completed MRV spacecraft will go through environmental testing to validate its performance in space.
“We are creating an in-space servicing infrastructure that has never existed before. Our successful experience in rendezvous, proximity operations and docking has laid the foundation for this critical next step in creating a more sustainable model for future satellite operations,” said Rob Hauge, president, SpaceLogistics.
