TV Provider Shifting Satellite to High Orbit Over Explosion Fears
Phys.org / Jan. 24, 2020
OK, you now have my attention.
US authorities said Friday . . .
[January 24th]
. . . they had granted permission to a TV provider to urgently lift a four-ton (3,600-kilogram) satellite to a so-called “graveyard orbit” over fears a battery fault may soon cause it to explode.
Wait — what?
DirecTV had told the Federal Communications Commission its Boeing-built Spaceway-1 satellite had suffered a “major anomaly” in its batteries and did not have time to deplete its remaining fuel before disposing of it by placing it 300 kilometers (190 miles) above the “geostationary arc.”
The company said it was necessary to complete the procedure before February 25, . . .
[Thus, during January 24th]
. . . when the satellite would pass through the Earth’s shadow forcing it to rely on its batteries instead of its solar panels, heightening the risk of a “catastrophic failure” that could impact other satellites.
But “because the SpaceWay-1 satellite is being retired ahead of schedule, it has significantly more propellant remaining than it would have had at its previously scheduled retirement date,” the FCC spokesman said, which itself is a risk factor for explosion.
You keep using that word.
OK … so it’s retiring early?
The move was confirmed to AFP by both DirecTV’s parent company AT&T and Boeing, which said “the battery malfunction occurred in the course of operating the satellite more than two years after its contractually required design life.”
OK … so it’s retiring later than it was designed for.
Whew!
It’s fortunate for us you didn’t try to push this ‘splodey satellite any further past its prime than two years . . .
The satellite was launched in 2005 and was originally authorized until October 2020, but DirecTV had previously filed a request to extend its life until 2025, the FCC said.
TV viewers need not fret, said AT&T.
They generally don’t.
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