Main Engine Cut OffAnother One Bites the Dust
Caleb Henry, for SpaceNews, on the breakup of Telkom-1 and the continuing saga of what I will now refer to as The Summer of Lost Satellites:
Hendrix said ExoAnalytic Solutions will need to perform additional observations, but preliminary data shows Telkom-1 did not collide with another object. The damage to the satellite appears severe, however.
“As we analyze data from after the incident over several nights, we may be able to determine if the satellite still has the solar panels attached,” he said. “Our telescope observations indicate that the satellite has been in a fairly fast tumble since the incident.”
Video of the incident is pretty intense.