Space agencies tracking debris from Boeing-built satellite’s explosion in orbit

Oct. 23 (UPI) — The U.S. Space Force and Roscosmos are tracking potential threatening debris from a Boeing-built satellite that exploded in orbit.

Intelsat said an anomaly triggered the explosion earlier this week and the cause is under investigation.

According to the British company Spaceflux, the fragments might still be a danger to other satellites.

“The problem is that there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the orbits of these fragments at the moment,” said a Spaceflux spokesperson. “They can be potentially dangerous for other satellites but we do not know that yet.”

The breakup of the satellite interrupted power and communications services across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Intelsat said in statement, “A Failure Review Board has been convened to complete a comprehensive analysis of the cause of the anomaly. Since the anomaly, Intelsat has been in active dialogue with affected customers and partners. Migration and service restoration plans are well underway across the Intelsat fleet and third-party satellites.”

The Intelsat 33e is one of six “EpicNG” satellites made by Boeing. It was delayed for three months before entering service due to a primary thruster problem.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a Tuesday statement it is tracking more than 80 fragments of the destroyed Intelsat satellite and they pose a potential threat to all operating spacecraft.

“Analysis of the trajectories of the fragments shows that the destruction of the satellite was instantaneous and high-energy,” Roscosmos said in the statement. “Based on the obtained dynamics of the distribution of Intelsat-33e fragments, it can be concluded that there is a potential threat to all operating spacecraft, including the Roscosmos group in the geostationary region of outer space.”

Boeing announced Wednesday that it had lost over $6 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2024, with CEO Robert Ortberg calling for a company culture reset and increased focus to turn the company around.

IAM union workers were voting Wednesday to decide whether or not to accept a new labor contract that would end a month-long strike at Boeing.

Boeing has had a series of mechanical failures and safety problems in jets and the Starliner spacecraft that took astronauts to the space station.

Despite the Starliner issues that stranded astronauts on the space station, development is likely to continue because NASA needs another alternative for spacecraft to prevent a SpaceX monopoly on spacecraft production.