Intelsat has announced a US$280m agreement with Canadian aerospace contractor MDA to operate on-orbit satellite refuelling stations within four years.
MDA’s Space Infrastructure Servicing (SIS) vehicles will be able to refuel 8-9 satellites on a single…
Intelsat has announced a US$280m agreement with Canadian aerospace contractor MDA to operate on-orbit satellite refuelling stations within four years.
MDA’s Space Infrastructure Servicing (SIS) vehicles will be able to refuel 8-9 satellites on a single mission, before being remotely refuelled itself for further tasks.
The spacecraft will also be able to provide maintenance and re-positioning services, an Intelsat spokeswoman told SatelliteFinance, helping to combat the increasing amounts of ‘space junk’.
In addition to using SIS vehicles to service its own satellites, she said Intelsat will exclusively market the services to the US government, which is anticipated to be a “huge” customer.
Announcing the partnership on 15 March, Intelsat CTO Thierry Guillemin said: “On-orbit refuelling and servicing is a game-changing innovation. It is important for Intelsat, managing the largest commercial satellite fleet, to support technologies and tools that expand our capabilities in space.” Under their agreement, the two companies will work together over the next six months to finalise specifications and other requirements, with the first refuelling mission available 3.5 years thereafter.
The planned refuelling venture will be similar to a separate service announced earlier this year by a JV between Minnesota-based contractor ATK and solutions provider US Space.
Called ViviSat, this venture’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) will also be capable of latching on to a geosynchronous bird that has run out of fuel, providing it with a back-up propulsion system. However, unlike SIS vehicles, the MEV is not designed to leave the satellite it is secured to. Because MDA’s service offers multi-satellite capabilities it allows its customers greater flexibility, the Intelsat spokeswoman continued.
“It’s a different horse for a different course,” she noted, adding that Intelsat prefers MDA’s offering because the operator “moves its satellites a lot”.
Commenting on the partnership during its announcement, Dan Friedmann, president and CEO of MDA, said: “We are very pleased to have Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, as the anchor customer for our new SIS offering and our partner in accessing the US government market.
“There is a clear need to service the world’s space infrastructure, both commercial and government. The combination of MDA’s unparalleled and proven space servicing capabilities and Intelsat’s commercial and government market presence is a good way to get this new service off the ground.”
