SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 late this afternoon from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The payload was Northrop Grumman’s MRV-MEV-1 satellite. Liftoff was at 5:15pm ET and into partly cloudy summer skies above the Space Coast. Orbit was achieved at T+07:55 and the payloads were successfully deployed at 35:34 elapsed minutes into the mission.

Payload

The Mission Robotic Vehicle, or MRV, is a roughly 3,000 kilogram spacecraft with two dexterous robotic arms and a full suite of rendezvous, proximity operations and docking sensors. Program leaders like to describe it as about the size of a moving van. Think of it as a mechanic and a delivery truck rolled into one, built to grab client satellites that were never designed to be grabbed and then get to work on them.

The MRV can install propulsion pods, inspect and repair spacecraft, move satellites around, trim orbital inclination and even help with debris removal. It also carries a Passive Refueling Module, the first refueling interface standard approved by the U.S. Space Force. That means the MRV itself can be topped off in orbit, stretching its own working life past a planned decade of service.

After Delivery To GTO

After Tuesday’s launch to geostationary transfer orbit, the MRV and its three pods will each make their own slow climb to GEO using onboard solar-electric propulsion, a trip that should take about a year. Once they’re all up there, the MRV will grab the pods one at a time, ferry them to their assigned client satellites, and use its robotic arms to install them. Pull that off, and Northrop Grumman will have validated a servicing model it believes will someday make tending satellites in orbit as routine as refurbishing airplanes on the ground.

Booster B1069 Expended After 32 Flights

SpaceX needed extra performance from the Falcon 9 first stage today, and as such, the landing legs were removed and Booster B1069 was expended after its part of the mission. This particular booster had previously flown 31 missions, but now sleeps with the fishes after its 32nd.

Next Launch

Author: Charles Boyer

NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.