Robotic servicing mission launches from Cape Canaveral. 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, Ars reports. 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.
First of its kind… 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. Developed in a public-private partnership between Northrop Grumman and DARPA, the MRV uses its two robotic arms to install the propulsion pods onto other satellites in geosynchronous orbit and extend their lives.
Relativity announces new plans for Florida. Relativity Space plans to expand its operations at Cape Canaveral and add thousands of high-paying new jobs by the end of 2034, Florida Today reports. The company plans to expand test and launch support infrastructure across NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to Space Florida, an economic development agency chartered to attract aerospace business to the state. Relativity’s plans for Florida include the construction of an additional factory for the company’s Terran R rocket, which will launch from a pad already under construction at Cape Canaveral. Relativity’s current factory is in Long Beach, California.
Always be scaling… “Expanding our capacity in Florida enables our ability to scale the Terran R program to support commercial, scientific, and national security missions,” said Eric Schmidt, Relativity’s executive chairman and CEO, in a statement. Officials have not announced an exact location for the Relativity rocket factory, but the company is reportedly eyeing a site in Titusville, just west of Kennedy Space Center. Relativity’s Terran R rocket, with a reusable first stage booster, remains officially scheduled for a first flight by the end of the year. That is not likely to happen.
