Three Small Propulsion Pods, Each Functioning As Standalone Spacecraft, Accompanied the MRV Aboard the Falcon 9 Rocket

İki esnek robotik kolla donatılmış bir uzay aracı, bu hafta başında SpaceX Falcon 9 roketiyle fırlatıldıktan sonra jeosenkron yörüngeye doğru yola çıktı ve uydu hizmetinde yeni sınırlar açmak için on yıl sürecek planlanan bir görevi başlattı. Northrop Grumman'ın sahibi olduğu ve inşa ettiği Mission Robotik Aracı, Salı günü Florida'daki Cape Canaveral Uzay Kuvvetleri İstasyonundan yörüngeye fırlatıldı. Falcon 9 roketindeki MRV'ye, her biri bağımsız uzay aracı olarak işlev gören üç küçük itiş podu eşlik etti.

Falcon 9, kalkıştan yaklaşık bir saat sonra dört faydalı yükün tamamını konuşlandırdı. Uyduların ilk eliptik düşme yörüngesinden ekvatorun 22.000 mil (yaklaşık 36.000 kilometre) üzerinde dairesel bir yörüngeye manevra yapması yaklaşık bir yıl sürecek. Bu yükseklikte, MRV ve üç Görev Uzatma Pod'u (MEP), çok sayıda sivil ve askeri iletişim uydusu, füze uyarı platformu ve giderek artan sayıda casus uyduyla aynı tür yörüngede çalışarak, Dünya'nın dönüşüyle aynı hızda hareket edecek.

Yorumlar "Bunlar gerçekten zor olan şeylerdir. "These are things that tend to be really hard. A spacecraft fitted with two flexible robotic arms is on the way to geosynchronous orbit after launching earlier this week on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off a planned decade-long mission to open new frontiers in satellite servicing.

The Mission Robotic Vehicle, owned and built by Northrop Grumman, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday. Three small propulsion pods, each functioning as standalone spacecraft, accompanied the MRV aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 deployed all four payloads within about an hour of liftoff.

It will take about a year for the satellites to maneuver from their initial elliptical drop-off orbit into a circular orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. At this altitude, the MRV and the three Mission Extension Pods (ME Ps) will travel in lockstep with Earth’s rotation, operating in the same kind of orbit as numerous civilian and military communications satellites, missile warning platforms, and a growing number of spy satellites. The Mission Robotic Vehicle is arguably the most advanced servicing satellite ever launched.

It’s certainly the most sophisticated orbiting servicer we know anything about. China launched a satellite with a robotic arm into geosynchronous orbit in 2016. Another launch in 2021 deployed the Shijian-21 or SJ-21, spacecraft on a “space debris mitigation” mission. SJ-21 linked up with a defunct Chinese navigation satellite and moved it to a higher altitude for disposal before returning to the geosynchronous belt.

China launched the SJ-25 refueling mission in January 2025, and it docked with SJ-21 a few months later before the satellites went their separate ways, completing what was apparently the first refueling demonstration so far from Earth. The extra gas is expected to give SJ-21 a longer life, giving it the potential to visit and reposition other satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary, SpaceLogistics, have the same idea with the Mission Robotic Vehicle. There are clear military applications for this capability.