
The Galaxy 30/MEV-2 is a Northrop Grumman Corporation (former Orbital ATK) program combining two satellites stacked together: Intelsat’s Galaxy 30 and Mission Extension Vehicle-2 for SpaceLogistics LLC, a satellite servicing vehicle which will dock first to Intelsat 10-02 (IS-10-02).
Galaxy 30 (G-30) will be the first replacement satellite in Intelsat’s North American Galaxy fleet refresh. It will provide high-performance broadcast distribution capabilities, including Ultra-High Definition (HD), while also supporting broadband, mobility and enterprise network solutions.
The launch of G-30 demonstrates Intelsat’s long-term commitment to its media customers and its media distribution neighborhoods, which have an unmatched penetration of cable headends in the United States.
- Galaxy 30 will be the 62nd satellite to be launched by Arianespace for Intelsat.
- Galaxy 30 will be the 29th NG satellite to be launched by Arianespace.
MEV-2 is supplied by Northrop Grumman for the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, SpaceLogistics LLC. Intelsat 10-02 will be the first customer of the MEV-2. Once docked, it will control the orbit of the customer satellite using its own thrusters. After its mission for IS-10-02, MEV-2 will undock and be available for another customer’s vehicle.
The first MEV, MEV-1, was launched by Proton in October 2019. It docked with Intelsat-901 in February 2020.
After MEV-2, Northrop Grumman and SpaceLogistics are developing a new generation of satellite servicing vehicles that could attach propulsion jetpacks to multiple spacecraft in a single mission.
- MEV-2 will be the 1st satellite servicing vehicle to be launched by Arianespace.
- MEV-2 will be the 30th NG satellite to be launched by Arianespace.