EE_
12th May 2010, 09:14 PM
Could it happen?
Out of control satellite threatens television reception across US
A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States.
Published: 7:00AM BST 12 May 2010
Communications company Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on April 5, possibly because the satellite's systems were knocked out by a solar storm. Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite to remain in its orbit, so Galaxy 15 is creeping toward the adjacent path of another TV communications satellite that serves US cable companies.
Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably overlap and interfere with signals from the second satellite, known as AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit as expected around May 23, according to the two satellite companies.
"That fact means that there is likely to be some kind of interference," Yves Feltes, a spokesman for AMC 11 owner SES World Skies, said. "Our aim is to bring any interference down to zero."
He would not name any of the cable television channels or providers that could be affected or say how long the interference could last.
"We are confident that service disruptions will be minimized or avoided," said Dianne VanBeber, a spokesman for Intelsat.
Galaxy 15 is floating over the Pacific Ocean slightly to the east of Hawaii, said Emmet Fletcher, space surveillance and tracking manager for the Space Situational Awareness Programme at the European Space Agency, an 18-nation consortium.
He said Galaxy 15 was highly unusual because it continued to send out television signals, unlike other malfunctioning satellites that automatically went into complete shutdown when their navigational systems malfunctioned.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7713393/Out-of-control-satellite-threatens-television-reception-across-US.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUqRZkR8dE&feature=related
Out of control satellite threatens television reception across US
A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States.
Published: 7:00AM BST 12 May 2010
Communications company Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on April 5, possibly because the satellite's systems were knocked out by a solar storm. Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite to remain in its orbit, so Galaxy 15 is creeping toward the adjacent path of another TV communications satellite that serves US cable companies.
Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably overlap and interfere with signals from the second satellite, known as AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit as expected around May 23, according to the two satellite companies.
"That fact means that there is likely to be some kind of interference," Yves Feltes, a spokesman for AMC 11 owner SES World Skies, said. "Our aim is to bring any interference down to zero."
He would not name any of the cable television channels or providers that could be affected or say how long the interference could last.
"We are confident that service disruptions will be minimized or avoided," said Dianne VanBeber, a spokesman for Intelsat.
Galaxy 15 is floating over the Pacific Ocean slightly to the east of Hawaii, said Emmet Fletcher, space surveillance and tracking manager for the Space Situational Awareness Programme at the European Space Agency, an 18-nation consortium.
He said Galaxy 15 was highly unusual because it continued to send out television signals, unlike other malfunctioning satellites that automatically went into complete shutdown when their navigational systems malfunctioned.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7713393/Out-of-control-satellite-threatens-television-reception-across-US.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUqRZkR8dE&feature=related