Summary

The UK’s oldest satellite, Skynet-1A, launched in 1969, has mysteriously shifted from its original orbit over Africa to a high-risk position over the Americas.

It’s suspected that in the 1970s, Skynet-1A was intentionally moved west, possibly by U.S. controllers, but records confirming who made this decision and why are missing.

Now inactive, the satellite poses collision risks to active satellites, as it occupies a congested orbit at 105 degrees West longitude.

The UK may eventually need to consider relocating Skynet-1A or removing it altogether to mitigate risks from space debris.

    • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      49
      ·
      1 month ago

      from the sound of it, no, the article suggests that someone probably commanded them to fire back in the 70s while the thing still worked, and its just unclear when exactly this was and who did it.

        • MartianSands@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          1 month ago

          No, it would have been detected by various systems pretty much immediately. Those systems are military though, and probably wouldn’t tell the general public about the movement of military satellites

          It’s also conceivable that it was detected in that orbit but not recognised, so it was treated as a mystery object

    • Daemon Silverstein
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 month ago

      If I know correctly, some satellites have ionic propellers, needing just electricity to function.