Nichols Martin
Northrop Grumman has shipped the first communications satellite in Intelsat's Galaxy fleet replacement program and a second mission extension vehicle to French Guiana in preparation for a launch mission scheduled to take place later this month.
An Ariane 5 rocket will lift off from a Kourou launch site later this month to send the G-30 spacecraft and MEV-2 satellite servicing vehicle to orbit, Northrop said Tuesday.
Intelsat selected Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop, in 2018 to build the operator's new satellite based on the GEOStar-2 platform. The spacecraft is designed to carry C-, Ku- and Ka-band payloads and support the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System.
The MEV is built to rendezvous with client spacecraft almost out of fuel and control its geostationary orbit.
Northrop's Space Logistics subsidiary provided the servicing platform that the company expects to dock with the Intelsat 1002 satellite early next year.
