NASA has released the selection statement that lays out the space agency’s reasoning for awarding Nanoracks, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman a total of $415.6 million to develop plans for private space stations under the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program. The facilities are designed to maintain a permanent U.S. presence in Earth orbit when the International Space Station (ISS) is retired in 2030.

In this story, we’ll look at the Northrop Grumman’s station. The project summary is drawn from publicly available information. Excerpts from the selection statement follow. Long paragraphs in the latter have been broken up to improve readability. Acronyms have been spelled out for the sake of clarity.

Two industry leaders, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, invest in Orbit Fab for their Gas Stations in SpaceTM end-to-end refueling services using the Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI).

SAN FRANCISCO (Orbit Fab PR) — Orbit Fab closed over $10 Million in its most recent financing, bringing its total funding to $17 Million. Alongside Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and Lockheed Martin Ventures (NYSE: LMT), Asymmetry Ventures led the round. Existing investor SpaceFund is joined by new investors, Marubeni Ventures and Audacious Venture Partners.

McLean, Va., August 15, 2020 (Intelsat PR) – Intelsat, operator of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial network, announced the successful launch of Galaxy 30, a geosynchronous communications satellite that will primarily provide high-performance television distribution service to Intelsat’s North American customers.

Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle 2 (MEV-2) was part of the same successful launch on Saturday. The Intelsat 10-02 satellite is scheduled to be its first customer in early 2021.

KOUROU, French Guiana (Arianespace PR) — Final step in Ariane 5 latest performance improvement program decided in 2016, Flight VA253 brings the total increase in payload capacity to 300 kg since then.

The two of the three companies whose satellites are being launched are both long-standing customers – Intelsat for 37 years and B-SAT for 23 years – clearly proving the excellence of Arianespace’s service offering and long-term customer relations.

The spacecraft will launch together on an Arianespace 5 rocket; MEV-2 set to dock with Intelsat satellite in early 2021

DULLES, Va., June 30, 2020 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced today the arrival of the company-built Galaxy 30 (G-30) spacecraft for Intelsat and the Mission Extension Vehicle 2 (MEV-2) at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The vehicles are scheduled to launch late July 2020, in a stacked configuration onboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

FALLS Church, Va. (Northrop Grumman PR) — A satellite may be healthy and fully operational, but it can still be retired if its fuel supply has depleted. Once fuel runs dry, that’s it: The satellite is done, unusable. Enter the Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV).

MCLEAN and DULLES, Va., April 17, 2020 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Intelsat (NYSE: I) today announced that Intelsat 901 has returned to service following the successful docking with the first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) from Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SpaceLogistics LLC, on February 25 – the first time that two commercial spacecraft docked in geostationary orbit.

DULLES, Va., Feb. 26, 2020 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SpaceLogistics LLC, have successfully completed the first docking of the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) to the Intelsat 901 (IS-901) spacecraft in order to provide life-extension services. This historic accomplishment marks the first time two commercial satellites have docked in orbit and the first time that mission extension services will be offered to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit.

Four upcoming launches in the United States, Russia and New Zealand feature payloads to refuel a communications satellite, study space weather, expand SpaceX’s Starlink network, and test out new technology. October 9 Proton Payloads: Eutelsat 5 West B communications satellite, Mission Extension Vehicle 1 (MEV 1) Launch Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Launch Time: 6:17 a.m. EDT (1017 GMT ) This is the first flight of the MEV, which will refuel […]

WASHINGTON, DC (NASA PR) — A first-of-its-kind spacecraft to extend another satellite’s life will be launched into orbit soon thanks in part to a partnership between Northrop Grumman and NASA. The spacecraft is called the Mission Extension Vehicle, or MEV, and its primary purpose is to extend the life of commercial satellites that are currently in a geostationary orbit around Earth.

The spacecraft was developed by Northrop Grumman for its wholly owned subsidiary Space Logistics LLC, with some technical assistance from NASA through a no-funds exchanged NASA partnership called Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities.