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Deployment

Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) at Geostationary Orbit (GEO)

GEO life-extension servicer that autonomously rendezvouses with and docks to a client satellite's apogee-engine ring, then provides station-keeping and attitude control.

Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) by Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified

Track Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) at Geostationary Orbit (GEO)

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Machine-readable surfaces

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman footage of its Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-2) rendezvousing and docking with the Intelsat 10-02 satellite in geostationary orbit. A success: MEV-1 docked Intelsat-901 (2020) and MEV-2 docked Intelsat 10-02 (2021), the first commercial geostationary dockings, extending satellite life by taking over station-keeping.

MEV-1 autonomously docked with Intelsat 901 on 2020-02-25 approximately 300 km above GEO, the first commercial GEO docking, then ferried the satellite back to its operational slot for roughly 5 years before undocking on 2025-04-09, marking the first commercial GEO undocking.

Key facts

Client
Intelsat 901
Outcome
MEV-1 autonomously docked Intelsat 901 (2020-02-25) ~300 km above GEO - first commercial GEO docking - ferried it back to its slot for ~5 years; UNDOCKED 2025-04-09 (first commercial GEO undocking)

Safety record

No incidents on record for Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) at Geostationary Orbit (GEO).

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-10
Model
Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV)
Company
Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics
Location
Geostationary Orbit (GEO)
Status
ended
Operator type
maker operated
First seen
2020-02-25
ID
2d9b6890-a758-410e-88e0-3f8201c5dbf5

Timeline

  1. Feb 2020
    First recorded
    Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) first documented operating at Geostationary Orbit (GEO).
  2. Feb 2020
    created
  3. Jul 2026
    Current status: ended, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) operates in Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Explore the full verified map:

Sources (2)

  1. https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/
  2. https://www.northropgrumman.com/what-we-do/space/space-logistics-services
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-10

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: space

Sources by quality tier

2
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) at Geostationary Orbit (GEO).

Common questions

What is the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) deployment at Geostationary Orbit (GEO)?
Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), built by Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics, is recorded as a deployment at Geostationary Orbit (GEO) on the DEPLOY registry. Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) at Geostationary Orbit (GEO)?
Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics, the manufacturer of Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) deployment at Geostationary Orbit (GEO) go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting February 25, 2020 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Is the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) deployment at Geostationary Orbit (GEO) still active?
As of the most recent verification on the DEPLOY registry, this deployment is no longer operating at this location.
Have there been incidents at the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) deployment at Geostationary Orbit (GEO)?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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