[amsat-bb] DirecTV races to decommission broken Boeing satellite before it explodes

[Paul Stoetzer]

It doesn't have enough fuel. Even if it hadn't used 14 years worth of
propellant for stationkeeping, it would not have enough fuel to
deorbit. As far as I know, no geostationary satellite has ever been
deorbited because it requires an impractical amount of fuel to do.

The satellite should not explode once it gets to the graveyard orbit
because the batteries will be disconnected and there will be no load
on the batteries.

Orbital debris is a very serious concern in the geostationary belt.
Old satellites need to be moved out to make way for new ones. This
fact is also why there will never be any amateur satellites placed in
the geostationary belt. No regulatory body is going to let an amateur
group place a satellite there. We are at the mercy of finding a
commercial or government host satellite to get an amateur payload into
geostationary orbit.

73,

Paul, N8HM




On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 3:13 PM Daniel Holmes via AMSAT-BB
<amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>
> Stupid question…why put them in a graveyard orbit where they are now debris vs deorbiting satellites? Especially in this case where there’s a non-zero chance it’ll explode and throw more debris in all directions.
>
> Dan
> --
> Daniel Holmes, danielh at holmesonics.com
> "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" -- Lord John Whorfin
>
>
> > On Jan 24, 2020, at 10:58 AM, Paul Stoetzer via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
> >
> > The more common term used in this context is "graveyard orbit." Relocation
> > to 300 km above the GEO altitude is what FCC regulations require at the end
> > of life of any geostationary satellite.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Paul, N8HM
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 12:52 PM jim--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Zach Metzinger posted:
> >>> Here's an interesting article from the newsfeed:
> >>>
> >> https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/01/directv-races-to-decommission-broken-boeing-satellite-before-it-explodes/
> >>
> >>
> >> Odd that they are calling a new orbit 300km above the geo arc as a
> >> disposal orbit.  That does not sound right to me - as the article pointed
> >> out...
> >>
> >> 73
> >> -----
> >> Jim Walls - K6CCC
> >> jim at k6ccc.org
> >>
> >>
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