Artisit's Conception: Northrop Grumman’s robotic Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) arrives at Intelsat I-901.

Getting Geeky: Satellites Servicing Satellites


There’s a problem with low orbit around the Earth: it’s getting cluttered. It’s not just a matter of bumping elbows; stuff in orbit is moving very, very fast and collisions are not gentle. Not only do they damage the satellites involved; they fill the already crowded space lanes with still more junk and fragments. So…