The aerospace industry, which produced and operates the satellite, is performing maneuvers to keep away from fragments scattered from the Boeing satellite, which exploded about a week ago. The cause of the malfunction is still unclear. This is the second explosion of a Boeing-made satellite
The Amos 4 satellite operated by the Space Communications Company (spacecom) is in danger of colliding with fragments scattered in space following the explosion that occurred about a week ago in the IS-33e communication satellite of the Intelsat company. A space company reported today (Wednesday) that IAI, which produced the satellite and operates it, informed it that following the explosion that occurred on October 19, 2024 in Intelsat's 33e satellite, there are particles in space, some of which move in the orbit of the Amos 4 satellite. "IAI operates To update the satellite's maneuvering plan at the space point, to prevent these particles from hitting the satellite. The aerospace industry monitors the movement of the particles in order to make sure that the deflection of the satellite is effective. At this stage there is no effect on the company's activity in the Amos 4 satellite.
The Amos 4 satellite was launched into space in September 2013 and placed at the sky point 65 degrees East (which is very close to the sky point of 33e). His communications platform includes 24 broadband transponders with high power in KA and KU frequencies, and 10 operational antennas that can simultaneously provide service to 9 different regions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The IS-33e satellite was manufactured by the Boenig company and launched into space in August 2016. About a week and a half ago, on October 19, 2024, Intelsat announced that an "anomaly" had been discovered in the satellite's functionality, which affects the communication services it provides in Europe, Africa and part of Southeast Asia. Only two days later the company announced that the satellite was completely out of action (Total Loss), and that it was conducting an investigation in cooperation with Boeing to find out the cause of the malfunction. This is a rare and surprising malfunction, since the satellite entered service in January 2017, which means it only serves 7 years, while satellites of its type are designed to function for 15-20 years.
500 dangerous satellite parts
Suspicions that there was an explosion in the satellite arose following the reports of scattered parts of it. The Swiss company s2a Systems, which develops optical equipment for tracking phenomena in space, She reported on October 22 that its sensor detected 40 different fragments scattered from the satellite. The American company ExoAnalytic Solutions, which deals with the detection and monitoring of space debris, She reported Yesterday (Monday), she identified 500 pieces of the satellite scattered in space, some of them the size of a football, and some the size of a car door.
The explosion of satellite 33e is the second explosion event of Intelsat's EpicNG (next-generation) satellites. In 2019, the Intelsat-29e satellite, also manufactured by Boeing (and based on the same platform), exploded after only 3 years of service. To this day, the cause of the malfunction is not clear. The website Space News stated that until today it has not been determined whether the satellite was hit by a meteorite, or whether a wiring fault led to the formation of a static electric charge - which caused the explosion and destruction of the satellite. In any case, the last event took place at a space point that is very close to other communication satellites, some civilian and some military, so it is possible that other companies were affected by the event, and not just the Israeli space.
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