SpaceX launches Northrop Grumman’s MRV robotic servicing satellite
In doing its second launch in less than eight hours, SpaceX today successfully placed Northrop Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle-1 (MRV) into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida.
The MRV carries three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs), each assigned to attach to a different geosynchronous satellite to provide them fuel and power and extend their life for up to eight years. Two pods will attach to two Intelsat satellites, and the third will attach to an Australian Optus communications satellite. Though Northrop has done this kind of extension mission before, this is the first time it is launching an MRV with multiple pods. Previous robots, dubbed Mission Extension Vehicles (MEV), attached to only one satellite per mission.
The rocket’s two fairings completed their 7th and 31st flights respectively. The first stage (B1069) completed its 32nd flight (81 days after its previous mission). Because of the fuel required to get the MRV to geosynchronous orbit where its target satellites are located, the first stage was not recovered. Instead it splashed down in the Atlantic. The flight however solidified the booster’s position in sixth place in the rankings for the most reused launch vehicle:
39 Discovery space shuttle (retired)
36 Falcon 9 booster B1067
35 Falcon 9 booster B1071
33 Atlantis space shuttle (retired)
33 Falcon 9 booster B1063
32 Falcon 9 booster B1069 (retired)
29 Falcon 9 booster B1077
29 Falcon 9 booster B1078
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
88 SpaceX
45 China
10 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
10 Russia
For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 88 to 80.
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