Look Out: 'Zombie' Satellite Out of Control in Orbit
Shared by Mystech
This would explain the strange sounds my dental fillings have been making recently.
An intense solar storm in early April may have knocked an Intelsat communications satellite out of its orbit, and could cause possible signal interference with other nearby spacecraft, Space.com reports.
“In what industry officials called an unprecedented event, Intelsat’s Galaxy 15 communications satellite has remained fully ‘on,’ with its C-band telecommunications payload still functioning even as it has left its assigned orbital slot of 133 degrees west longitude 36,000 kilometers over the equator.”
The report said that the satellite, launched in 2005, first stopped communicating with ground controllers last month, and that it has begun moving eastward into the path of other satellites.
Everyone is apprised of the situation, including competing firms. The satellite is still pointing towards Earth, and will likely continue to do so until late July or August, assuming ground control can’t recover it before then.
The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia; the first possible satellite in its path is the AMC-11 C-band satellite, owned by SES of Luxembourg. (Image credit: Orbital Sciences/Intelsat 18 rendering)
