Posted on 10/24/2024 9:42:06 AM PDT by Red Badger
Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Space Force and Roscosmos are tracking potential threatening debris from a Boeing-built satellite that exploded in orbit.
Intelsat said an anomaly triggered the explosion earlier this week and the cause is under investigation.
According to the British company Spaceflux, the fragments might still be a danger to other satellites.
"The problem is that there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the orbits of these fragments at the moment," said a Spaceflux spokesperson. "They can be potentially dangerous for other satellites but we do not know that yet."
The breakup of the satellite interrupted power and communications services across Europe, Asia and Africa.
Intelsat said in statement, "A Failure Review Board has been convened to complete a comprehensive analysis of the cause of the anomaly. Since the anomaly, Intelsat has been in active dialogue with affected customers and partners. Migration and service restoration plans are well underway across the Intelsat fleet and third-party satellites."
The Intelsat 33e is one of six "EpicNG" satellites made by Boeing. It was delayed for three months before entering service due to a primary thruster problem.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a Tuesday statement it is tracking more than 80 fragments of the destroyed Intelsat satellite and they pose a potential threat to all operating spacecraft.
"Analysis of the trajectories of the fragments shows that the destruction of the satellite was instantaneous and high-energy," Roscosmos said in the statement. "Based on the obtained dynamics of the distribution of Intelsat-33e fragments, it can be concluded that there is a potential threat to all operating spacecraft, including the Roscosmos group in the geostationary region of outer space."
Boeing announced Wednesday that it had lost over $6 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2024, with CEO Robert Ortberg calling for a company culture reset and increased focus to turn the company around.
IAM union workers were voting Wednesday to decide whether or not to accept a new labor contract that would end a month-long strike at Boeing.
Boeing has had a series of mechanical failures and safety problems in jets and the Starliner spacecraft that took astronauts to the space station.
Despite the Starliner issues that stranded astronauts on the space station, development is likely to continue because NASA needs another alternative for spacecraft to prevent a SpaceX monopoly on spacecraft production.
Boeing Ping!..................
I’m so sad seeing what’s become of Boeing. It’s a metaphor for this country.
“an anomaly triggered the explosion earlier this week and the cause is under investigation”
an anomaly.....riiiiight 👌
Translation:
We don’t know why it blew up and we’re stonewalling to think up an excuse.
Can we just stop Boeing from doing anything until they get their act together?
I have 2 questions:
1) How was power services on the ground dependent on the satellite?
2) Who had something to gain by proving to Europe and co. that they had the means to send a rocket up to destroy the satellite?
The union rejected the proposed contract; zero earnings show on the search engine screen for the BA symbol; I suspect there will be a buyout bid soon.
With the strike continuing, the Machinists turned down the company offer, Boeing isn’t doing much of anything now............
Elon?....................
I dunno man.....the whole thing is weird.
When the initial 737Max crash stories came out several years ago, I looked at the main Boeing web site.
I noted that it was full of DEI happy BS. Unsurprisingly.
So the self destruct was triggered.
Someone must have told it the wrong pronouns.
Boing Boing now makes an important geosynchronous orbit unusable. What will Boing Boing destroy next - or are they working for America hating Democrats?
That was a GEO Stationary satellite. The debris will be in orbit for a very long time.
Did Mossad have a spare pager that got a delayed response from launch shielding that protected it till actual deployment ?
So the self destruct was triggered.
—
No it was a fuel explosion, not a self-destruct action. A self-destruct program would be on the launch vehicle & second stage, not the satellite.
While I hate seeing thousands out of work, we cannot afford too many satellites blowing up in space. That kind of stuff could wreak havoc on the communication system around the world.
I think that’s unlikely. Probably a more adventurous group of loaded investors working with Bezos’ Blue Origin will try something. That would also make the most sense, since BO’s goal is reusable boosters, and none of the old-line aerospace companies appear to have any interest in developing that capability. OTOH, Blue Origin (et al) are more likely to be still interested in ULA.
ULA is a joint venture and has been up for sale for a while. Latest I’d heard about that is, Sierra Space (the minishuttle people) were making some noise about buying it out from (mostly) Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. It would be understandable if Boeing made a deal for that now, just to raise some cash, any kind of deal. L-M has Boeing over the proverbial barrel though.
Grumman’s started using SpaceX for its launches, nothin’ much there in terms of buying Boeing or ULA.
Being a little suspicious of things at times, I’d be surprised if the Boeing debacles (three now — the 737 problems, the Starliner fiasco, the union contract negotiations; there are probably other general QC issues as well) are not entirely systemic incompetence, but rather international espionage.
Boing has succumbed to DEI.
Read what I wrote again.
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