Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
spacenews.com
Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
1–10 of 147 posts
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#2For some context:
The same Boeing satellite bus already experienced a major issue some years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#3For some context: The same Boeing satellite bus already experienced a major issue some years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800
The complete collapse of Boeing needs to be studied.
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#4It is particularly bad for a satellite in geostationary orbit to break up or fail. Satellites are packed as tightly as possible into that orbit due to its economic importance (it's very useful for a satellite, particularly communications satellites, to always be over the same part of the Earth), so there is a higher than normal likelihood that this could be seriously disruptive.
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#5It is particularly bad for a satellite in geostationary orbit to break up or fail. Satellites are packed as tightly as possible into that orbit due to its economic importance (it's very useful for a satellite, particularly communications satellites, to always be over the same part of the Earth), so there is a higher than normal likelihood that this could be seriously disruptive.
Indeed, Intelsat 33e has a couple nearby neighbors in similar orbits and inclinations.
ID Name Orbit Incl.
98050A ASTRA 2A 57.2 4.93
09017A WGS F2 (USA 204) 57.5 0.01
14023B KAZSAT-3 58.5 0.02
12008A BEIDOU-2 G5 58.7 2.10
16053B INTELSAT 33E (IS-33E) 60.0 0.04 Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#6Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#7> ... satellite maker Boeing to address an anomaly that emerged earlier that day, but “believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.”
Yeah, the satellite disintegrates and they call it an "anomaly" and "unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable". This response is even funnier than "the front fell off" sketch.
I feel like it's time to class Boeing as not only inept but a dangerously inept organisation.
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#8How does a satellite break up in orbit? Was it struck by something?
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
The complete collapse of Boeing needs to be studied.
They should teach it in every MBA program in the country /s.
You joke, but it absolutely should. Boeing is a great example of "when all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail". When MBAs are left in charge with no guardrails, this is what can happen. That's a great thing to teach to new MBAs. Every field has this potential pitfall. When you hyperfocus, bad things can happen. Know when to say when.
Re: Intelsat 33e breaks up in geostationary orbit
#10It is particularly bad for a satellite in geostationary orbit to break up or fail. Satellites are packed as tightly as possible into that orbit due to its economic importance (it's very useful for a satellite, particularly communications satellites, to always be over the same part of the Earth), so there is a higher than normal likelihood that this could be seriously disruptive.
- "Satellites are packed as tightly as possible into that orbit due to its economic importance"
Note that that's in the sense of angular separation, as viewed from the ground. They're physically hundreds of kilometers apart.
edit: (Geostationary orbits are ~42,000 km from the Earth center-of-mass; each degree of angle is an arc of ~700 km).