In a historic first, one private satellite docks to another in orbit

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From Ars Technica:
"On Tuesday, a spacecraft that was launched four months earlier docked with a communications satellite about 36,000km above the Earth. Northrop Grumman reported the historic docking on Wednesday, and the company heralded the mission as an "historic accomplishment" in the field of satellite servicing. Prior to this mission, no two commercial spacecraft had ever docked in orbit before."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02 ... -in-orbit/

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Another article from SpaceNews.com:
"Northrop Grumman’s MEV-1 servicer docks with Intelsat satellite"

https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans ... satellite/

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[Makuser]

Hi Stephen. Yet another high tech accomplishment in our space programs. Thanks for finding and sharing this link and interesting read article on here Stephen, and the best of regards.

[GCoyote]

Actual business being conducted on orbit. I like it.

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Another article from SpaceFlightNow.com:
"Two commercial satellites link up in space for first time"

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/26/t ... irst-time/

Cool docking time-lapse video - well, I suppose it's just a 3 or 4 panel GIF..

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[GCoyote]

Well that makes sense considering the slow motion nature of the operation.

"Switching from low-impulse electric thrusters to higher-power conventional liquid-fueled jets, MEV 1 approached the Intelsat 901 spacecraft and paused at pre-planned waypoints 80 meters (262 feet) and 20 meters (65 feet) from its docking target."

I had not been following this program but it makes perfect sense now that I think about it. Without some type of standardization, refueling would be impossible. But simply grabbing onto a stable satellite with a new "tug boat" module makes this a potential general purpose answer for many end-of-life satellites. Very cool and I'm encouraged that someone had the courage and foresight to bring this project to fruition.