This is the world’s most advanced robotic servicing satellite—that we know about

这是目前已知世界上最先进的机器人服务卫星

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. The Mission Robotic Vehicle, owned and built by Northrop Grumman, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday.

一艘配备了两条灵活机械臂的航天器在本周早些时候搭乘 SpaceX 的猎鹰 9 号火箭发射升空，目前正前往地球同步轨道。这标志着一项为期十年的任务正式开启，旨在开辟卫星服务的新领域。这台由诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司（Northrop Grumman）拥有并制造的“任务机器人飞行器”（Mission Robotic Vehicle, MRV）于周二从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角太空军基地发射升空。

Three small propulsion pods, each functioning as standalone spacecraft, accompanied the MRV aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 deployed all four payloads within about an hour of liftoff. It will take about a year for the satellites to maneuver from their initial elliptical drop-off orbit into a circular orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.

三个小型推进舱（每个均可作为独立的航天器运行）随 MRV 一同搭乘猎鹰 9 号火箭。猎鹰 9 号在升空后约一小时内完成了全部四个载荷的部署。这些卫星需要大约一年的时间，才能从最初的椭圆形投放轨道机动至赤道上方超过 22,000 英里（近 36,000 公里）的圆形轨道。

At this altitude, the MRV and the three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) will travel in lockstep with Earth’s rotation, operating in the same kind of orbit as numerous civilian and military communications satellites, missile warning platforms, and a growing number of spy satellites. That’s when the real fun will begin.

在这一高度，MRV 和三个“任务扩展舱”（MEPs）将与地球自转保持同步，运行在与众多民用和军用通信卫星、导弹预警平台以及日益增多的间谍卫星相同的轨道上。真正的重头戏届时才会开始。

Path to the pad

通往发射台之路

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. China launched a satellite with a robotic arm into geosynchronous orbit in 2016. Another launch in 2021 deployed the Shijian-21 or SJ-21, spacecraft on a “space debris mitigation” mission. SJ-21 linked up with a defunct Chinese navigation satellite and moved it to a higher altitude for disposal before returning to the geosynchronous belt.

“任务机器人飞行器”可以说是迄今为止发射的最先进的服务卫星。它无疑是我们所知的最复杂的轨道服务航天器。中国曾在 2016 年将一颗带有机械臂的卫星送入地球同步轨道。2021 年的另一次发射部署了“实践-21 号”（SJ-21）航天器，执行“空间碎片减缓”任务。SJ-21 与一颗失效的中国导航卫星对接，将其移至更高轨道进行处置，随后返回地球同步轨道带。

China launched the SJ-25 refueling mission in January 2025, and it docked with SJ-21 a few months later before the satellites went their separate ways, completing what was apparently the first refueling demonstration so far from Earth. The extra gas is expected to give SJ-21 a longer life, giving it the potential to visit and reposition other satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

中国于 2025 年 1 月发射了 SJ-25 加油任务，几个月后它与 SJ-21 完成了对接，随后两颗卫星各自离去，完成了迄今为止距离地球最远的一次加油演示。额外的燃料预计将延长 SJ-21 的寿命，使其有潜力访问并重新定位地球同步轨道上的其他卫星。

Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary, SpaceLogistics, have the same idea with the Mission Robotic Vehicle. There are clear military applications for this capability. Last year, the head of US Space Command, Gen. Stephen Whiting, told Congress that China was developing “on-orbit, maneuverable counterspace satellites to target our satellites using dual-use technologies.” He explicitly called out SJ-21 as an example of a mission that China could use “for potential offensive purposes against satellites we rely on to defend the homeland and project power.”

诺斯罗普·格鲁曼及其子公司 SpaceLogistics 对“任务机器人飞行器”也有着同样的想法。这种能力具有明显的军事应用前景。去年，美国太空司令部司令斯蒂芬·怀廷（Stephen Whiting）将军告诉国会，中国正在开发“利用双用途技术瞄准我们卫星的在轨机动反卫星”。他明确指出 SJ-21 是中国可能“用于针对我们防御国土和投射力量所依赖的卫星的潜在进攻性目的”的任务案例。

The US Space Force already has a fleet of inspector satellites roaming geosynchronous orbit to observe and report on the activities of foreign spacecraft. US military operators maneuvered one of these inspector satellites near the SJ-21 and SJ-25 satellites during the refueling operation last year. But military officials hadn’t publicly acknowledged any US-owned satellite with capabilities similar to China’s trio of Shijian satellites. That changes with Northrop Grumman’s MRV mission.

美国太空军已经拥有一支在地球同步轨道巡航的监视卫星编队，用于观察和报告外国航天器的活动。去年在加油作业期间，美国军事操作员曾操纵其中一颗监视卫星靠近 SJ-21 和 SJ-25 卫星。但军方官员此前从未公开承认过美国拥有与中国“实践”系列卫星类似能力的航天器。随着诺斯罗普·格鲁曼 MRV 任务的执行，这种情况发生了改变。

The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) spent approximately $420 million to develop the satellite’s robotics payload, alongside hundreds of millions of dollars invested by Northrop Grumman. The public-private partnership brought Northrop Grumman’s preexisting commercial satellite servicing program together with DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program. These programs originally operated independently.

五角大楼的国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）斥资约 4.2 亿美元开发了该卫星的机器人载荷，诺斯罗普·格鲁曼也投入了数亿美元。这种公私合作伙伴关系将诺斯罗普·格鲁曼现有的商业卫星服务项目与 DARPA 的“地球同步卫星机器人服务”（RSGS）项目结合在了一起。这些项目最初是独立运作的。

Northrop Grumman developed two satellites called Mission Extension Vehicles and launched them in 2019 and 2020. The MEVs docked with aging commercial communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit to take over pointing and orbit control. The MRV builds on the MEV concept, but thanks to the DARPA-funded robotic arms, the new servicer doesn’t have to commit itself to a single client. It can use the arms to install Northrop’s Mission Extension Pods on multiple geosynchronous satellites.

诺斯罗普·格鲁曼曾开发了两颗名为“任务扩展飞行器”（MEV）的卫星，并分别于 2019 年和 2020 年发射。MEV 与地球同步轨道上老化的商业通信卫星对接，接管其指向和轨道控制。MRV 在 MEV 的概念基础上进行了升级，得益于 DARPA 资助的机械臂，这款新型服务卫星不必局限于单一客户。它可以利用机械臂在多颗地球同步卫星上安装诺斯罗普的“任务扩展舱”。

This isn’t refueling, but the MRV serves the same end. The Space Force has a separate contract with a company named Astroscale to demonstrate refueling in geosynchronous orbit next year, something no US company has done before. The MRV can also do more than life extension. It can inspect, service, upgrade, or repair satellites that were never designed for it.

这虽然不是加油，但 MRV 达到了同样的目的。太空军与一家名为 Astroscale 的公司签订了单独合同，计划明年在地球同步轨道演示加油技术，这是此前没有任何美国公司做到过的。MRV 的功能不仅限于延长寿命，它还可以检查、维护、升级或维修那些从未为此类操作而设计的卫星。

DARPA partnered with the Naval Research Laboratory to develop the RSGS robotics payload. More than 20 years in the making, the robotics system was designed to meet Defense Department reliability standards, including redundant robotic arms, avionics, and mission troops. The RSGS payload also features cameras and sensors to allow the MRV to autonomously approach, inspect, capture, and upgrade client satellites that weren’t designed for visitors.

DARPA 与海军研究实验室（NRL）合作开发了 RSGS 机器人载荷。该机器人系统历时 20 多年研发，旨在满足国防部的可靠性标准，包括冗余机械臂、航空电子设备和任务组件。RSGS 载荷还配备了摄像头和传感器，使 MRV 能够自主接近、检查、捕获并升级那些并非为“访客”设计的客户卫星。

“This journey to the launch pad represents the culmination of a multiple decades-long endeavor of vision, risk, and relentless engineering,” Bernard Kelm, acting director of NRL’s Naval Center for Space Technology, said in a statement. DARPA first funded NRL’s space robotics work in 2002, a small study for a concept called RescueSat. RSGS can trace its lineage back to that initiative. “RSGS is designed to permanently change this ‘launch-and-abandon’ archetype,” Kelm said. “The RSGS program shifts…”

“这段通往发射台的旅程，是数十年来愿景、风险和不懈工程努力的结晶，”NRL 海军空间技术中心代理主任伯纳德·凯尔姆（Bernard Kelm）在一份声明中表示。DARPA 于 2002 年首次资助了 NRL 的空间机器人工作，当时是一项名为“RescueSat”概念的小型研究。RSGS 的渊源可以追溯到那一倡议。“RSGS 旨在永久改变这种‘发射即弃’的模式，”凯尔姆说，“RSGS 项目将转变……”