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posted by mrpg on Monday July 03 2017, @01:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the oh-oh dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

On the morning of June 17, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES lost control of a large satellite in geostationary space, nearly 36,000km above the Earth's surface. Shortly after, the satellite operator began working with another company that specializes in space situational awareness to track the drifting machine, AMC-9. A few days ago that company, ExoAnalytic Solutions, saw the AMC-9 satellite begin to fragment.

"We have seen several pieces come off of it over the past several days," ExoAnalytic's chief executive officer, Doug Hendrix, told Ars. "We are tracking at least one of the pieces. I would hesitate to say we know for sure what happened."

Sunday 11am ET Update: In response to a query from Ars, the AMC-9 satellite's operator, Luxembourg-based SES, issued the following statement on Sunday morning:

In the early hours of 1st July, the SES Satellite Control reestablished contact to AMC-9. SES and the satellite manufacturer Thales are working around the clock to evaluate the status and define the next steps.

Tracking information received on 29 June had suggested that at least two separate objects were located in the vicinity of AMC-9. Their source has still to be determined. The new piece of information was included by Thales and SES in their investigations.

Kessler syndrome?

Source: A satellite may be falling apart in geostationary orbit

SES's AMC-9 satellite drifting after anomaly


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 03 2017, @03:01AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 03 2017, @03:01AM (#534319)

    I guess my fear is that we are so damned vulnerable in this spot. One load of pea-gravel in an elliptical polar orbit intersecting this ring and everything is history.

    Reminds me of my own country. We have a lot of politicians and war machines, along with impressive arrays of young men in uniforms twirling their guns in unison for display.... yet we have to import technical talent to make our stuff work, while our own aerospace executives are paid bonuses for trimming the work force.

    I figure with the technical talent lost to purchase those handshakes, those have got to be among the most expensive handshakes on the planet.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday July 03 2017, @04:34AM (2 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Monday July 03 2017, @04:34AM (#534338) Journal

    Reminds me of my own country.

    And which fine earth-bound country might this be, prey tell?

    • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday July 03 2017, @09:33AM (1 child)

      by isostatic (365) on Monday July 03 2017, @09:33AM (#534391) Journal

      I wasn't sure from the description, could be North Korea, could be USA.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 03 2017, @12:24PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 03 2017, @12:24PM (#534414) Journal
        The gun twirling isn't a US thing outside of a few performing artists who do it for football games and such. The rest sounds a fair cop though I don't necessarily side with workers just because they're being trimmed.