US Satellite Orbiting Earth for 20-Plus Years Has Partially Disintegrated, Russian Scientists Warn

© RIA Novosti . Sergei YelkinSpace junk
Space junk - Sputnik International, 1920, 11.09.2022
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An American geostationary communications satellite called Galaxy 11 was launched in late 1999 and is run by Intelsat. It is positioned as a backup for the Intelsat 802 spacecraft in geostationary orbit where it served as a communications hub for North America and Brazil.
Russian scientists from the Moscow-based Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics at Russia’s Academy of Sciences said on Saturday that an American satellite is partially dissolving in orbit, endangering other spacecraft orbiting Earth.
Several small-sized particles that broke off from Galaxy 11 have been tracked by telescopes and could now pose a hazard to other spacecraft in orbit, according to researchers.
“Partial destruction of the old (launched in 1999) Galaxy 11 telecommunications device occurred in geostationary orbit,” the institute said in a Telegram post.
The Keldysh Institute stated that while the precise causes of the spacecraft's disintegration are still unknown, they may be related to the deterioration of its thermal insulation, solar panels, or other hardware.
Based on the HS-702 satellite bus, Galaxy 11 was created by Hughes Space and Communications for PanAmSat. It weighed 4,477 kilograms (9,870 pounds) upon launch and has 40 J band (IEEE C and Ku bands, respectively) and 24 G/H band (IEEE C and H bands) transponders on board. Its projected operational lifetime was 15 years, according to public data on it.
The latest comes as the United States is seeks to introduce a resolution to the UN General Assembly calling on other nations to pledge not to conduct anti-satellite missile tests, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday.
“This April, I announced that our nation would not conduct destructive, direct-descent, anti-satellite missile testing, and later this month, the United States will introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to call on other nations to make the same commitment,” Harris said during remarks at the Johnson Space Center.
The moon is seen behind a tracking antenna at Indian Space Research Organization's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, late Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.08.2022
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