Intelsat has lost one of its geostationary satellites after it seemingly broke up in orbit.
Over the weekend, the satellite firm announced a service outage on the Intelsat 33e satellite, affecting customers in Europe, Africa, and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
“The satellite experienced an anomaly on October 19, resulting in a loss of power and service to customers,” Intelsat said. “We are working closely with Boeing, the satellite manufacturer, to address the situation.”
The company added: “Based on the information available to us, we believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.”
Update: The company has since confirmed the satellite is a "total loss."
The issue is likely more than a simple outage, with the US Space Forces-Space (S4S) confirming the breakup of Intelsat 33e.
S4S is currently tracking around 20 associated pieces of debris after the satellite broke up on October 19, at approximately 04:30 UTC.
“S4S has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain,” the Space Force said.
It's unclear if 33e was insured.
Update: Douglas Hendrix, CEO of ExoAnalytic Solutions, said the US-based space-tracking company had identified 57 pieces of debris, while S4S has upped its initial 20 pieces of debris being tracked to 55.
Located at 60 degrees East, the 6.6-ton 33e high throughput satellite was designed and manufactured by Boeing Space Systems. Replacing Intelsat 904, the satellite had a mixed C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band payload.
It was launched in August 2016 and entered service in January 2017. The satellite was slow to originally enter service after thruster issues were discovered.
In April 2019 Intelsat 29e, another satellite using the same Boeing 702MP platform as 33e, was lost three years into service after developing a fuel leak.
Intelsat has at least four other satellites in orbit that are based on the 702MP platform: Intelsat's 21, 22, 27, and 35e.
In other recent space news:
-- Intelsat has announced a new satellite cellular backhaul service platform, located at the Open Access Datacenter (WIOCC) in Lagos, Nigeria.
-- The ViaSat-3 F1 satellite, which has suffered issues with its reflector, is now delivering services to the US Marine Corps.
-- Eutelsat successfully launched 20 OneWeb satellites aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
-- Marella Cruises, the cruise line of TUI UK&I, is to equip its fleet with OneWeb connectivity in partnership with Speedcast.
-- The Maine Connectivity Authority is looking to use Starlink to provide greater connectivity across the state.
-- United Airlines is adopting Starlink on its 1,000+ aircraft.
-- AST SpaceMobile has successfully launched its first five production direct-to-device satellites.
-- Chinese LEO operator GalaxySpace has signed a deal with Hong Kong carrier PCCW Global to integrate its services into PCCW’s network.
-- EchoStar Mobile has partnered with narrowband connectivity firm Connected for off-grid connectivity, with the latter to use capacity on EchoStar XXI to provide IoT services.
-- Constellation Technologies & Operations has successfully raised €9.3 million ($10.08m) as part of its Seed fundraising. The company aims to roll out a fleet of 5G LEO satellites to serve telecom operators. The first two prototype satellites are due to launch next year.
-- Stellar Telecommunications has completed a €9.3 million ($10.08m) funding round. The company provides satellite connectivity to mobility customers such as the automotive industry.
-- Skynopy is partnering with small satellite connectivity operator Kinéis to explore ways to reuse the latter’s 20+ teleport sites.
-- Leaf Space is deploying an optical ground station from Odysseus Space at a site in Montsec, Cataluña, Spain.
-- OneWeb is reportedly exploring locating a ground station site in Johannesburg, South Africa.
-- French startup Volta Space Technologies has revealed plans to develop a network of satellites around the moon to provide power to spacecraft on the lunar surface.
