Intelsat 33e loses power in geostationary orbit

[milgrim]

And Space-Track (https://www.space-track.org) says the following:

U.S. Space Forces-Space (S4S) has confirmed the breakup of Intelsat 33E (#41748, 2016-053B) in GEO on October 19, 2024, at approximately 0430 UTC. Currently tracking around 20 associated pieces - analysis ongoing. S4S has observed no immediate threats and is continuing to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain.

This is the same Boeing 702MP satellite bus as the one used for Intelsat 29e, which had this anomaly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19658800

[FatalLogic]

What happened to it? Any ideas?

Hit by something, or an internal problem?

[FatalLogic]

I wonder if debris in GEO orbit is a problem for other satellites in GEO orbits. It'll be up there for a very long time I guess.

But maybe it just stays orbiting at about the same velocity in the same orbit, so it's not really a big issue for other spacecraft in GEO?

Here's a Wikipedia page with some ideas about it (look for "Higher Altitudes") -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris

[milgrim]

At least collision avoidance manoeuvres are not that common in GEO as far as I know, so things like this are more the exception: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flaviomurolo_meteosat-mtg-sat...

Well, there's also the Russians sneaking around: https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-russian-sigint-...

[croes]

Boeing again?

[milgrim]

Indeed.