Editing Intelsat (section)

== In-space refueling demonstration project ==
{{Main|MDA Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle}}

{{As of|2011|03|post=,}} Intelsat has agreed to purchase one-half of the {{cvt|2000|kg}} propellant payload that an [[MDA (company)|MDA Corporation]] spacecraft [[Orbital propellant depot|satellite-servicing]] demonstration project would take to [[geostationary orbit]]. [[Orbital maneuver|Catching up]] in orbit with four or five Intelsat [[Communications satellite|communication satellites]], a load of {{cvt|200|kg}} of fuel delivered to each satellite would add somewhere between two and four years of additional service life.<ref name=sn20110314>{{cite news|last=de Selding|first=Peter B.|title=Intelsat Signs Up for Satellite Refueling Service|url=http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/intelsat-signs-for-satellite-refueling-service.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524111321/http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/intelsat-signs-for-satellite-refueling-service.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2012|access-date=2011-03-15|publisher=SpaceNews|date=2011-03-14|quote=''if the MDA spacecraft performs as planned, Intelsat will be paying a total of some US$200 million to MDA. This assumes that four or five satellites are given around 200 kilograms each of fuel.  ... The maiden flight of the vehicle would be on an International Launch Services Proton rocket, industry officials said. One official said the MDA spacecraft, including its 2000 kilograms of refueling propellant, is likely to weigh around 6000 kilograms at launch.''}}</ref> A near-end-of-life Intelsat satellite will be moved to a graveyard orbit {{cvt|200|to(-)|300|km}} above the geostationary belt where the refueling will be done, "without consequence" to the Intelsat business.<ref name=sn20110318>{{cite news|last=de Selding|first=Peter B.|title=Intelsat Signs Up for MDA's Satellite Refueling Service|url=http://www.sbv.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110318intelsat-signs-for-mdas-satellite-refueling-service.html|access-date=2011-03-20|publisher=SpaceNews|date=2011-03-18|quote=''the operator of the world's largest fleet of commercial satellites — Intelsat has 52 in orbit. ... For this first demonstration mission, ... one of our satellites that is at the end of its life and about to be decommissioned ... will be taken out of geostationary orbit without consequence to our business, with the refueling done 200 to 300 kilometers above the geostationary belt.''|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120321160118/http://www.sbv.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110318intelsat-signs-for-mdas-satellite-refueling-service.html|archive-date=21 March 2012}}</ref>

{{As of|2010|03|post=,}} the business model was still evolving. MDA "could ask customers to pay per kilogram of fuel successfully added to [each] satellite, with the per-kilogram price being a function of the additional revenue the operator can expect to generate from the spacecraft's extended operational life".<ref name=sn20100303>{{cite news|last=Selding|first=Peter B.|title=MDA Designing In-orbit Servicing Spacecraft|url=http://spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/100303-mda-planning-inorbit-servicing-demo.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105074228/http://spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/100303-mda-planning-inorbit-servicing-demo.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2013|access-date=2011-03-14|publisher=SpaceNews|date=2010-03-03|quote=''the refueling vehicle would dock at the target satellite's apogee kick motor, peel off a section of the craft's thermal protection blanket, connect to a fuel-pressure line and deliver the propellant. MDA officials estimate the docking maneuver would take the communications satellite out of service for about 20 minutes. ... The servicing robot would have an in-orbit life of about five years, and would carry enough fuel to perform 10 or 11 satellite-refueling or [[Space debris mitigation|orbital-cleanup]] missions.''}}</ref>

The plan is that the [[Orbital propellant depot|fuel-depot]] vehicle would maneuver to several satellites, dock at the target satellite's [[apogee kick motor]], remove a small part of the target spacecraft's thermal protection blanket, connect to a fuel-pressure line and deliver the propellant. "MDA officials estimate the docking maneuver would take the communications satellite out of service for about 20 minutes".<ref name=sn20100303/>

On 25 February 2020, a Northrop Grumman robotic servicing spacecraft, [[Mission Extension Vehicle|Mission Extension Vehicle 1]] (MEV 1) docked with the [[Intelsat 901]] satellite. The MEV 1 spacecraft will provide propulsion capabilities to Intelsat 901 to extend its usable life for five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/26/two-commercial-satellites-link-up-in-space-for-first-time/ |title=Two commercial satellites link up in space for first time|publisher=Spaceflight Now|first=Stephen|last=Clark|date=26 February 2020}}</ref>