A communications satellite has been lost in Earth ’s geostationary orbit , breaking up into several piece of debris after an “ anomaly ” occurred over the weekend .
Intelsat 33e , also known as IS-33e , was reported to be out of service on Saturday , October 19 , leading to a loss of major power and Robert William Service to client across Europe , Africa , and division of the Asia - Pacific part . On October 21 , it wasconfirmedthat the planet had broken up in geostationary orbit , which is at an altitude of 35,786 klick ( 22,236 nautical mile ) above Earth ’s equator .
“ We are coordinating with the artificial satellite manufacturer , Boeing , and political science way to analyse data and observations . A Failure Review Board has been convene to complete a comprehensive psychoanalysis of the cause of the anomaly , ” Intelsat said in anannouncementof the artificial satellite red .
Douglas Hendrix , chief executive officer of ExoAnalytic Solutions , toldSpaceNewsthat his troupe had name at least 57 pieces of debris from the satellite .
plunge in 2016,Intelsat 33ewas a 6,600 kilo ( 14,600 pound ) geostationary artificial satellite that was used for telecommunication – mainly for military service across Europe , the Middle East , Africa , Asia Pacific , Mediterranean , and Indian Ocean neighborhood .
It ’s not yet clear what caused the breakup of Intelsat 33e , although such an event is n’t completely unprecedented . orbiter have previously been fall behind due to inadvertent hit and geomagnetic solar storms“frazzling ” their electronic systems . Some satellites have even beenactively destroyedusing arms .
An article published inThe Conversationnotes that Intelsat 33e has had a history of technological difficulties throughout its eight yr of service , including several issue with its propulsion . Anothersatellite of the same mannikin , Intelsat IS-29e , also give way in 2019 .
While the loss is being inquire , the separation of Intelsat 33e bell into the much tolerant trouble ofspace junk .
The number of artificial satellite in field has been skyrocketing ( pun mean ) in late years . As of mid-2024 , there areover 8,000 satellitesin low - Earth Orbit , around 6,050 of which are from SpaceX ’s mega constellationStarlink . Elon Musk ’s company has straightaway design to double that number to reach most 12,000 orbiter , eventually expand to as many as 34,400 satellite .
With each satellite , there ’s an increased risk of space junk , which is primarily debris from roquette launching material and disused satellites .
According toESA , more than 170 million bits of space rubble heavy than 1 millimeter ( 0.04 inches ) in size are estimated to be beat in Earth ’s cranial orbit , mainly dwell of piece that are too little to tag . There are likely to be over 29,000 pieces of rubble that are bigger than 10 centimeters ( 3.9 inches ) in size , large enough to cause serious job for satellites and spacecraft .
