3 ms·

Intelsat 33e loses power in geostationary orbit

9 points by milgrim 2y ago

milgrim 2y ago
And Space-Track (https://www.space-track.org https://www.space-track.org) says the following: U.S. Space Forces-Space (S4S) has confirmed the breakup of Intelsat 33E (#41748, 2016-053B) in GEO on October 19, 2024, at approximately 0430 UTC. Currently tracking around 20 associated pieces - analysis ongoing. S4S has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain. This is the same Boeing 702MP satellite bus as the one used for Intelsat 29e, which had this anomaly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800
- FatalLogic 2y ago
  What happened to it? Any ideas? Hit by something, or an internal problem?
  - milgrim 2y ago
    After what happened to Intelsat 29e (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800) it's probably an issue with the satellite bus.
    - FatalLogic 2y ago
      "Late on 7 April, the Intelsat 29e propulsion system experienced damage that caused a leak of the propellant on board the satellite resulting in a service disruption to customers on the satellite." [0] Intelsat 29e, way back in 2019, but that's interesting. Some kind of onboard issue? [0] https://www.intelsat.com/newsroom/intelsat-29e-service-outage/ https://www.intelsat.com/newsroom/intelsat-29e-service-outag...
      - milgrim 2y ago
        Boeing would be very unlucky to lose two satellites with the same bus to external causes.
croes 2y ago
Boeing again?
- milgrim 2y ago
  Indeed.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
FatalLogic 2y ago
I wonder if debris in GEO orbit is a problem for other satellites in GEO orbits. It'll be up there for a very long time I guess. But maybe it just stays orbiting at about the same velocity in the same orbit, so it's not really a big issue for other spacecraft in GEO? Here's a Wikipedia page with some ideas about it (look for "Higher Altitudes") -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris
- milgrim 2y ago
  At least collision avoidance manoeuvres are not that common in GEO as far as I know, so things like this are more the exception: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flaviomurolo_meteosat-mtg-satellite-activity-7238843984670863361-y8pf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flaviomurolo_meteosat-mtg-sat... Well, there's also the Russians sneaking around: https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-russian-sigint-satellite-luch-olymp.html https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-russian-sigint-...

9 points by milgrim 2y ago

And Space-Track (https://www.space-track.org https://www.space-track.org) says the following: U.S. Space Forces-Space (S4S) has confirmed the breakup of Intelsat 33E (#41748, 2016-053B) in GEO on October 19, 2024, at approximately 0430 UTC. Currently tracking around 20 associated pieces - analysis ongoing. S4S has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain. This is the same Boeing 702MP satellite bus as the one used for Intelsat 29e, which had this anomaly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800

FatalLogic 2y ago
What happened to it? Any ideas? Hit by something, or an internal problem?
- milgrim 2y ago
  After what happened to Intelsat 29e (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800) it's probably an issue with the satellite bus.
  - FatalLogic 2y ago
    "Late on 7 April, the Intelsat 29e propulsion system experienced damage that caused a leak of the propellant on board the satellite resulting in a service disruption to customers on the satellite." [0] Intelsat 29e, way back in 2019, but that's interesting. Some kind of onboard issue? [0] https://www.intelsat.com/newsroom/intelsat-29e-service-outage/ https://www.intelsat.com/newsroom/intelsat-29e-service-outag...
    - milgrim 2y ago
      Boeing would be very unlucky to lose two satellites with the same bus to external causes.

croes 2y ago

Boeing again?

milgrim 2y ago
Indeed.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

FatalLogic 2y ago

I wonder if debris in GEO orbit is a problem for other satellites in GEO orbits. It'll be up there for a very long time I guess. But maybe it just stays orbiting at about the same velocity in the same orbit, so it's not really a big issue for other spacecraft in GEO? Here's a Wikipedia page with some ideas about it (look for "Higher Altitudes") -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris

milgrim 2y ago
At least collision avoidance manoeuvres are not that common in GEO as far as I know, so things like this are more the exception: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flaviomurolo_meteosat-mtg-satellite-activity-7238843984670863361-y8pf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flaviomurolo_meteosat-mtg-sat... Well, there's also the Russians sneaking around: https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-russian-sigint-satellite-luch-olymp.html https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-russian-sigint-...