MEV-2 will not impact One West services
MAY 25, 2020 09.08 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER

Intelsat’s mission to prolong the life of its Intelsat 10-02 satellite will not impact on services on the satellite.

10-02, which is co-located with the Telenor’s Thor neighbourhood at 1 degree West (359 degrees East), is the subject of the second MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle).

Unlike the previous mission, the manoeuvre will take place in-situ from within the GEO belt.

Rhys Morgan, regional vice president, Europe & MENA Sales, Intelsat explained MEV-2 would grip onto the side of Intelsat 10-02. “The mission extension vehicle provides orbital sort of management of the satellite in terms of keeping it in the right place,” he said. “It’s been very successful in keeping one of our satellites, 901, alive providing some critical services. So we would anticipate no interruption other than some minimal switching breaks as the two spacecraft come together.”

MEV-2, alongside BSat 4b and Galaxy 30, MEV-2 is slated to launch on July 28th, 2020, following Arianespace’s resumption in the wake of the coronacrisis.