Northrop Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods launched successfully, enhancing the resilience, mobility and sustainability of US assets in space. Northrop Grumman’s significant investment and partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) resulted in an innovative, autonomous, multi-function space robotics platform. The MRV will expand customer options for satellite servicing and enable new in-space operations including robotic satellite inspection, relocation, repair, debris removal, upgrades, experimentation and in-space assembly.
First-of-its-kind Robotic Servicing. The MRV integrates DARPA’s robotics payload developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, featuring two fully articulated robotic arms and specialized tools for unprecedented space missions.
- Life-Extension. The MEPs serve as “jetpacks” to provide supplemental propulsion to extend a satellite’s life and allow for maneuvering.
- Refuelable. The MRV launches with the first Passive Refueling Module (PRM), a Space Force-approved docking and refueling interface standard that enables MRV to be refueled on orbit and perform future sustained space maneuver missions.
- Artificial Intelligence. MRV launched with the advanced processing needed to support future AI-powered operations. Northrop Grumman uses AI to increase reliability, reduce costs, increase mission assurance, and soon, enable never-before-seen in-space servicing on future MRV operations.
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Ryan Tintner, vice president and general manager, space superiority, Northrop Grumman: “The MRV is a whole new class of advanced autonomous space robotics that will learn and evolve to support novel missions for our nation. These are not demonstrations. Our world-leading investments in these capabilities are finally providing options in space that are only limited by our imagination.”
Using Northrop Grumman’s proven expertise in rendezvous and proximity operations and docking, the MRV will safely dock with and service client satellites. With its successful Mission Extension Vehicles (MEV), the company’s first-generation satellite servicing spacecraft, Northrop Grumman is the first and only company to extend the life of commercial satellites running low on fuel. To date, the two on-orbit MEVs have docked with three commercial communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit and have provided more than ten years of combined mission extension services.
The MEPs build on the success of MEVs by offering a more affordable, smaller-form-factor life extension solution that can be rapidly deployed to a wide range of satellites. The MRV, MEV and MEPs leverage Northrop Grumman’s proven American manufacturing expertise. The company-built mission-enabling thermal control products and electronics protect and control MRV’s robotic arms in space, while the space electronics aboard MRV’s electric propulsion thruster units are crucial to maneuvering the vehicle in space.
