The artificial satellite Intelsat 33ewhich provided telecommunications services to customers in Europe, Africa and Asia, was destroyed 19 October 2024 in geostationary orbit, therefore at approximately 36,000 km altitude. The event, reported by various sources, generated dozens of space debris (at least 20 according to the American Space Force, about 80 according to the Russian space agency) which could represent a danger for other nearby satellites. The cause of the destruction is not yet clear: an impact with space debris or an internal structural break is hypothesized. This incident caused major service disruptions for Intelsat customers, who promptly initiated migration and recovery plans, working with Boeingthe satellite’s manufacturer, and with government agencies to investigate the anomaly.
The accident occurred at a historical moment that was anything but favorable for Boeingfresh from the recent failure of the Starliner capsule on its journey to the International Space Station and various accidents that occurred in recent months, such as that of the 737 Max 9 of Alaska Airlines or the 747 of Atlas Air in January 2024.
What happened to the Boeing Intelsat 33e satellite: possible causes
Intelsat 33e was launched inAugust 2016 and put into service in January 2017. He operated from one geostationary position at 60 degrees Eastover the Indian Ocean, and its mission was to offer satellite connectivity for vast territories. This type of orbit, defined as geostationary, allows satellites to remain still (stationary) with respect to a fixed point on Earth, ideal for providing stable telecommunications services.
The satellite, produced by Boeing Space Systemswas part of the series Boeing Space 702MPan advanced platform designed for long-term missions. However, the anomaly recorded at 06:30 (Italian time) last October 19th led to an immediate loss of power, causing its complete malfunction and subsequent destruction. Initial Space Force readings indicated approx 20 debris generated by the eventbut further analyzes conducted by the evletica company s2a systems and by the state corporation that deals with the Russian space industry Roscosmos have found much higher numbers, with estimates reaching up to 80 fragments.
This debris represents a significant threat to other satellites in geostationary orbit, given that this region – although not as crowded as thelow Earth orbit – hosts larger and more complex satellites. Among those potentially at risk are the Russian telecommunications satellite Express-A1the satellite Yamal-402 and the weather satellite Electro-L.
Regarding the dynamics that led to the accident, Roscosmos stated:
An analysis of the movement trajectories of the resulting fragments shows that the destruction of the satellite was immediate and high-energy in nature. Based on the obtained dynamics of the distribution of Intelsat-33e debris, we can conclude that there is a potential threat to all operational spacecraft, including the Roscosmos group in the geostationary region of outer space.
Intelsat working to guarantee the continuity of its services
As for the guarantee of continuity of its services after the explosion of the Intelsat 33e satellite, Intelsat specified the following in an official note:
We are coordinating with the satellite’s manufacturer, Boeing, and government agencies to analyze data and observations. A Failure Review Board was convened to complete a comprehensive analysis of the cause of the anomaly. Following the anomaly, Intelsat entered into an active dialogue with affected customers and partners. Migration and service restoration plans are underway across the Intelsat fleet and third-party satellites.
Intelsat 33e satellite destroyed in orbit: are there risks for us?
As for any concerns about what might happen to us, let’s make that clear right away we can rest assured: The geostationary orbit is very far from the Earth’s surface, and the debris is orbiting 36,000 km above our heads. At that distance from the ground the Earth’s atmosphere is completely absent, so the friction that can disturb the orbit of the “space junk” produced is very limited. Their orbit, in other words, is very stable.
However, this does not take away the fact that the destruction of a satellite is not a panacea: the debris produced can impact other artificial satellites, so the less we have, the better. The main concern therefore has to do with possible impacts that could cause further damage to other artificial satellites.
