Khrunichev Space Center has sent a Proton launch vehicle, head fairing, transition system, and Breeze-M booster to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 22, 2019 to prepare of the launch of EUTELSAT 5 West B and MEV-1.

Northrop Grumman was selected by Eutelsat Communications to build the EUTELSAT 5 West B satellite. EUTELSAT 5 West B will be designed, built and tested at Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. The spacecraft will have an operational lifetime of more than 15 years as a broadcast satellite, replacing the current satellite at Eutelsat’s 5° West longitude orbit slot. EUTELSAT 5 West B will mainly serve video markets in Europe and North Africa.

MEV-1 (Mission Extension Vehicle ) will dock with customers’ existing satellites providing the propulsion and attitude control needed to extend their lives. SpaceLogistics LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, provides cooperative in-orbit satellite servicing to geosynchronous satellite operators using its fleet of commercial servicing vehicles.

(ARCHIVED PHOTO).