Debris from Boeing-Built Satellite’s Explosion in Orbit Poses Danger to Other Satellites
The Intelsat 33e satellite, which was launched in 2016 and provides communications across Europe, Asia and Africa, was destroyed after experiencing “an anomaly”.
Boeing has taken another hit to its program trajectory this week. A Boeing-made satellite, Intelsat 33e, exploded in space this week following an “anomaly,” resulting in its total loss.
The Intelsat 33e satellite, which was launched in 2016 and provides communications across Europe, Asia and Africa, experienced “an anomaly” on Saturday, Intelsat said in a news release. Attempts were made to work with Boeing and repair the satellite, but on Monday, the U.S. Space Force confirmed that the satellite had exploded.
The satellite’s breakup left some customers without power or communications services. Intelsat said it is working with third-party providers to limit service interruptions, and is in communication with customers.
Since the breakup, the U.S. Space Force is now tracking “around 20 associated pieces” of the satellite in space. The agency said that there are “no immediate threats” and routine assessments to ensure safety are ongoing.
Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said it had recorded “more than 80 fragments” of the destroyed satellite. Analysis of the pieces’ trajectory determined that the destruction of the satellite was “instantaneous and high-energy,” Roscosmos said.
The satellite experienced a propulsion issue shortly after its launch, which reduced its operational lifespan by several years. The cause of the failure remains unknown at this time, and other space agencies signal they are concerned that unpredictable debris trajectories could threaten other satellites.
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 satellite explosion has impacted communications services for customers in Europe, Africa, and parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, the Intelsat 33e satellite provided broadband communication services from a geostationary orbit about 35,000 km above the Indian Ocean.
This isn’t the first orbiting satellite loss for Boeing, either.
Earlier in 2019, the company had lost another Boeing-made satellite, IS-29e. The satellite was lost just after three years of its launch. It was ‘believed’ to have been the result of a wiring issue, or a space collision. However, the exact cause of that is yet to be determined.
The currently exploded satellite IS-33e, launched in August 2016, was supposed to have a lifetime of 15 years, according to Space News. “It went into service three months later after an issue with its primary thruster and a second propulsion issue during testing took off 3.5 years from its initial lifespan,” the publication reported.
Meanwhile, Boeing’s bad year is getting worse. To begin with, NASA is giving up (at least temporarily) Starliner missions to the International Space Station.
The agency stated that Crew-10 and Crew-11 missions in 2025 will use SpaceX vehicles. However, the space agency hasn’t completely shut the door on the troubled craft…
…Despite all the dilemmas created by Starliner, NASA isn’t giving up on the Boeing spacecraft anytime soon. The space agency desperately needs the launch capacity and an astronomical amount of money has already been sunk into the project. NASA spent $5 billion on the Starliner’s development.
And Boeing is laying-0ff about 10 percent of its workforce.
Boeing said it was laying off 10% of its global workforce, some 17,000 people, to “align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities.” Workers probably hope it isn’t the start of a trend.
The reason for the cuts: Boeing hasn’t reported a full-year profit since 2018 and has amassed more than $40 billion in new long-term debt as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX jet for much of 2019 and 2020. What’s more, quality problems have slowed down production, hurting revenue, for most of 2024.
Most of the rest of the commercial aerospace industry is booming.
Hopefully, Boeing will get back on a proper trajectory soon.
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aim it right towards iran
Boeing built satellite poses danger to other satellites but not to Boeing DEI hiring program.
Boing will never head in the right direction until it fires the bean counters in upper management and dismantles their entire DEI structure to hire qualified engineers not quota slot holders
So, Boeing is a giant aerospace company whose planes don’t work, whose rockets aren’t safe for passengers, and whose satellites explode.
Now we find out if they are “too big to fail”.
Either way, a real loss to American industry.
The spot it blew up at is the worst place fly through. All the debris orbits pass through it. That suggests putting a large fly-catcher there.
Get the new Lizard Tape Space-Debris Catcher™️. So good it sticks to anything. Call now and get not 1, but 2 Lizard Tape Space-Debris Catchers™️.
The layoffs are going to be “interesting” for sure. I get an earful quite often.
If they laid off the right 10%, they could start booming. In all honesty they could lay off 20% before they are losing muscle mass vs fat. It’s not the headcount that’s costing them- it’s the bad leadership. They have so many who are utterly MIA and never show up for their role.
The “interesting” part is WHO they lay off. There are so many DEI managers who do abjectly nothing or worse; they just cause damage because they are colossally bad at their jobs and were shoved into leadership positions because of skin color and/or gender. These leadership positions pay $$$. Go watch some youtube of their CIO – she’s a white Kamala Harris.
If they are ready to let some sacred cows go and abandon DEI and deal with some of their other toxic trash, the turn around would be much faster than you can imagine.
Mid November is supposedly when that question will be answered. Look for some VP levels to be gone. Also managers in lower ranks. Some of these positions likely won’t go because they are fire-able at any time – so leadership will spare that ammo for later since a firing allows them to back fill.
“There are so many DEI managers who do abjectly nothing or worse; they just cause damage because they are colossally bad at their jobs and were shoved into leadership positions because of skin color and/or gender.”
It seems like a second-order quibble. DEI programs damage the company regardless of whether their managers are good or bad at their jobs. The managers that just don’t show up may arguably damage the company least of all.
Wife said one of their companies DEI people showed up to do a tour and remind people to send in a survey they had put out. She showed the lady around and when they got to the shop one of the black guys told her he identified as a woman. She was very serious in thanking him apparently missing that he was making fun of her, everyone else started laughing then spent the rest of the time mocking her, DEI and the entire woke stuff until she left. Wife said that lady told her the company was probably going to dismantle the entire DEI thing early next year
Has anyone notified Max Kowalski and the Shuttle Explorer team?
It’s quite sad to see such a great company self destruct. All of this started with the merger with Douglas. The US government should pause all contracts with Boeing.
Recall the John McCain, among others, went berserk a decade or so ago when the Air Force bidding for a replacement Tanker/refueling aircraft was won by Alabama built Airbus. The DC political establishment immediately threw sand in the gears, stopped the contract and eventually handed it to Boeing.
They saved
DemocracyUnbiased Contracting.Had it happen to a company of mine as well.
Had they merged with the old Douglas they’d have flourished. It was the MC DONNELL part of McDD that carried the bean-counter mentality. It carried the military contractor mentality of building the cheapest, most make-do garbage ad the highest price Uncle Sugar would pay.
Yes, the merger was a long time ago, but that mentality soaked in and did the damage.
On the bright side the landing gear didn’t fall off when it launched and the doors didn’t either… and Musk didn’t have to repair it for Boeing on orbit.
The “landing gear” (wheels) fell off of aircraft in service long enough to have had many wheel changeouts already. Boeing has goofed up much, but the “landing gear” issue is not their fault.
As for the door issue, two different shops are pointing fingers at one another as to whom is at fault. We likely will never get an answer on this one, but given the bad blood between BCA and the unions, anything is possible.
I’ve got to believe that there is a market for a free-enterprise space-junk removal system. Just make each satellite owner responsible for any collisions with their debris (Space Force tracks it right down to nuts and bolts) and they’d be willing to hire somebody to clean it up.
A small manned orbiter with a powerful radar system and a replenishable fuel supply could go around gathering up big chunks (like this satellite) as well as bits and pieces, attach them to a special re-entry module, and drop it in a special location cleared of navigation in the Pacific. Pilots could shuttle up and down to it on a bi-weekly or monthly basis for relief and refueling, and replenishment of the re-entry modules. Those modules would only have to be sturdy enough to survive the retrothrust and then break apart over the re-entry zone as it finishes de-orbiting.
C’mon, Elon, it’s a business opportunity knocking!
“(Space Force tracks it right down to nuts and bolts)”
As conservatives, we should beware Knoll’s Law & the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect.
It’s common to brag of the American Exceptionalism of the competence of some government service.
Then later on we learn it is no different from the Pentagon that simply “loses track” of billions of dollars, the FBI that loses a fair number of its own guns, and a CDC that does absolutely all the wrong things during a pandemic, And those are just the incompetency examples, not to mention the “deliberate nonperformance during to political bias” examples we see in the FBI, FEMA, DOJ, FEC, etc.
In short, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Space Force tracking database is 65% crap, just like the BATF’s NFA weapons registry.
Can you say Lithium Ion?
Yes. (ahem. hrumph unch cough) …. “lithium ion”.
Can you say for certain that the battery tech on that satellite was indeed lithium ion?
2016? A safe bet.
I should ask my auto insurer if he covers “anomalies” at a lower deductable than “collisions.”