Image default
US & World

Boeing Going Down: Satellite Disaster, Earnings Implosion

Is there anything this company is doing right?

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

“Everything good needs replacing,” Dave Matthews crooned on his band’s 1995 hit ‘Satellite.’ That saying might have applied once to crony capitalist aerospace engineering firm Boeing – but not anymore.

Boeing – already in the midst of a brutal year – was dealt a pair of fresh body blows this week as it seeks to regain its footing from a spate of scandals.

We’ll start with the issue that could conceivably impact the very sustainability of modern civilization – the as-yet-unexplained disintegration of one of the company’s next generation global communications satellites four days ago (news of which is only widely breaking today).

According to Space Track, Intelsat 33e – the second of Boeing’s next generation high-throughput satellites – broke apart in geostationary orbit on Saturday (October 19, 2024) at 4:30 UTC. Intelsat – the company which operated the satellite – declared it a total loss on Monday (October 21, 2024).

What happened?

It’s unclear… just as it’s unclear how many new pieces of high-velocity space junk we are dealing with in the aftermath of the disintegration. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) initially said it was tracking twenty pieces, but according to Space News an independent U.S.-based company said 57 pieces were being tracked. Russia’s space agency – Roscosmosclaimed there were “more than 80 fragments” of the destroyed satellite being tracked. The Russians also indicated the “anomaly” which destroyed the satellite was “instantaneous and high-energy.”

Support FITSNews … SUBSCRIBE!

***

Assuming the Russian report is accurate, it could be incredibly significant in terms of assessing the long-term fallout from this incident.

Those of you familiar with FITSNews’ coverage know we have devoted extensive ink to the Kessler Syndrome – a theory first posited in 1978 by scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais. The theory is simple: The more space junk, the more space collisions – and the more space collisions, the more likely we are to witness a calamitous chain reaction.

“As the number of artificial satellites in earth orbit increases, the probability of collisions between satellites also increases,” the abstract to Kessler and Cour-Palais’ report noted. “Satellite collisions would produce orbiting fragments, each of which would increase the probability of further collisions, leading to the growth of a belt of debris around the earth.”

“The doomsday scenario? An uncontrollable chain reaction of ‘cascades’ which would destroy every single satellite currently orbiting the earth – knocking out all the banking, energy, internet, phone, navigational and related industries which rely on satellite technology,” I wrote two months ago. “In addition to severing the backbone of our new, modern economy, such a chain reaction would simultaneously make future space travel prohibitive due to the cloud of debris floating over the planet.”

So yeah… bad.

***

RELATED | ARE WE HEADING FOR A SPACE APOCALYPSE?

***

Intelsat 33e launched in August of 2016 and began operations the following January. Like the first of Boeing’s “next generation” satellites to launch, it had a troubled history. For starters, the satellite’s mission was delayed for three months due to a thruster issue. When the satellite did begin operations, its estimated 15-year life span was cut by four years due to another propulsion problem.

Obviously, it didn’t make it to the low-end of that span…

Five years ago, its predecessor – Intelsat 29e – was declared a total loss just three years into its service. That satellite failure was attributed to a potential “micrometeorite impact” or an “under-voltage event,” i.e. a short circuit, on or about April 7, 2019. The result, according to Spaceflight Now, was “a fuel leak and shed debris” as the satellite drifted away from its geostationary orbit 22,000 miles above the equator.

Touted by Intelsat as possessing “the most advanced digital payload on a commercial spacecraft,” the satellites were intended to provide “enterprise-grade, broadband services to fixed and mobile network operators, aeronautical and maritime mobility service providers, and government customers,” according to the company.

The satellite debacle is yet another space humiliation for Boeing. Two months ago, officials with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided to send a SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule to rescue two astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) rather than attempt to bring them back to earth in the Starliner spacecraft which carried them into orbit three months earlier.

***

***

The decision was a massive blow to Boeing, which was already seven years late (and billions of dollars over budget) on its Starliner project. The company is also struggling to deliver on its part of NASA’s next-generation heavy-launch vehicles. According to a report issued on August 8, 2024 by NASA’s inspector general, Boeing’s work on the massive Space Launch System 1B – a key component of the agency’s planned manned lunar missions – has been plagued by delays, cost overruns and “ineffective quality management and (an) inexperienced workforce.”

Boeing’s multiple “space fails” come as the company is still reeling from multiple scandals involving the manufacture of its passenger jets – and the high-profile suicide of a corporate whistleblower back in March.

Not surprisingly, chronic incompetence has consequences. This morning (October 23, 2024), Boeing reported a net loss of $6.17 billion during the third quarter of 2024 – bringing its annual losses to approximately $8 billion.

“It will take time to return Boeing to its former legacy, but with the right focus and culture, we can be an iconic company and aerospace leader once again,” the company’s new president and chief executive officer Kelly Ortberg said in a statement accompanying the financial report. “Going forward, we will be focused on fundamentally changing the culture, stabilizing the business, and improving program execution, while setting the foundation for the future of Boeing.”

Good luck with all that, man. Good luck with all that…

BANNER VIA: GETTY IMAGES

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks on phone
Will Folks (Brett Flashnick)

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.

***

Get our newsletter by clicking here …

*****

Related posts

US & World

Donald Trump To Deportation Deniers: ‘FAFO’

Will Folks
US & World

Ukraine in Limbo as Trump Takes Office

Dylan Nolan
US & World

Ron Paul: ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ On Trump 2.0

FITSForum

1 comment

Something They're Doing Right October 23, 2024 at 4:15 pm

There was this one time they caught this crazed blogger snapping photos and deleted them.

Reply

Leave a Comment