- cross-posted to:
- space@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- space@lemmy.world
A satellite belonging to multinational service provider Intelsat mysteriously broke up in geostationary orbit over the weekend.
Man they are just on fire lately
…was designed and manufactured by Boeing Space Systems and launched in 2016. It provided broadband services, including internet and phone communication services, to parts of Europe, Africa, and most of Asia.
IS-33e was the second satellite to be launched as part of Boeing’s “next generation” EpicNG platform. The first, dubbed IS-29e, failed due to a propulsion system fuel leak. Intelsat declared the satellite a total loss in April 2019, later attributing it to either a micrometeoroid strike or solar weather activity.
What caused IS-33e to break up in orbit remains unclear, however. Intesalt officials did observe that it was using far more fuel than it should be to maintain its orbit shortly after launching eight years ago, shaving off 3.5 years of its 15-year lifetime.
Could be a coincidence, but I feel “Boeing leaks” approaching “Samsung exploding” levels of memification (where they had washers, phones and some other things all exploding, and the look was not great).
Samsung shook the meme off, but I feel like Boeing will have a harder time.
It was the window seal.
If it hadnt exploded into peices,what would it havr exploded into instead?
Boeing killed John Barnett.
It was probably a whistleblower satellite.
That satellite was about to reveal company secrets
The secret is that Boeing is run by criminally careless assholes. Wait, that’s not a secret.
Did the front fall off?
I guess space is technically out of the environment.
They thought it did … so they tried turning it off then on again … and it exploded.
“Did it pass the smoke test?”
“Kinda… There’s no smoke, anyway…”
That line was really funny. The first time we heard it. Many years ago.
Not my fault it’s still relevant.
You should tow it out of the environment or something.
So now this satellite can be an “anomaly” for another satellite, and the circle of life continues…
Kessler Syndrome anyone?
There’s not really a threat in geostationary orbits. It’s a much bigger area with far fewer satellites.
IS-33e was the second satellite to be launched as part of Boeing’s “next generation” EpicNG platform. The first, dubbed IS-29e, failed due to a propulsion system fuel leak. Intelsat declared the satellite a total loss in April 2019, later attributing it to either a micrometeoroid strike or solar weather activity.
What caused IS-33e to break up in orbit remains unclear, however. Intesalt officials did observe that it was using far more fuel than it should be to maintain its orbit shortly after launching eight years ago, shaving off 3.5 years of its 15-year lifetime.
Boeing produces more leaks than this guy:
I was on a Boeing plane the other day that was delayed while we watched a guy with a wrench and a rag trying to stop fuel leaking out of the wing. It wasn’t hugely reassuring.
At least it was outside. Better out than in, I always say
So in addition to the Boeing low hanging fruit - feels like the opener to a scifi story involving either covert space weapons testing or the start to some kind of extraterrestrial invasion. 😁
Another Unsafe Product, Brought To You By Boeing!
That’s gonna leave a mess.
Fortunately, Boeing is a responsible entity and will plan on cleaning it up… right?
I hope not “Gravity” movie levels of mess…
Geostationary orbit is waaaaay high.
Boeing evil! Am I right! (laughter)
It was probably space garbage, and that’s seriously alarming.