– A large communications satellite called Intelsat 33e experienced a sudden power loss and then broke up into at least 20 pieces in orbit. This affected communications in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
– The cause of the breakup is unknown but the satellite had a history of propulsion and fuel issues since its launch in 2016. Intelsat is investigating but the exact cause may never be determined.
– The breakup added to the growing problem of space debris. It created fragments too small to be tracked that increase the risk of collisions.
– There are over 40,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 cm being tracked in orbit. The total mass is over 13,000 tonnes, similar to 90 blue whales. Intelsat 33e’s higher orbit means only larger debris can be seen.
– Recent breakups of other decommissioned satellites in 2022 and 2023 added over a thousand more trackable fragments. But much smaller untracked debris was also created.
– As space activities increase, effective debris monitoring and minimization efforts are needed to manage collision risks, including controlled re-entries at end of life for satellites.
Source: Science Alert
