Main Engine Cut OffWorldView-4 Fails
Maxar press release from earlier this week, on a gyro failure in WorldView-4:
Efforts are ongoing in conjunction with its suppliers in an attempt to restore satellite functionality, but thus far these efforts have been unsuccessful. At this time, Maxar believes that WorldView-4 will likely not be recoverable and will no longer produce usable imagery. Maxar operations has put the WorldView-4 satellite in a safe configuration and will continue to monitor the satellite's location and health. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin and the CMGs were provided by Honeywell.
…
The WorldView-4 satellite is insured for $183 million, and Maxar intends to seek full recovery for the loss of WorldView-4 under its insurance policies. The Company will provide further updates on this matter as new information becomes available.
Such a bummer to lose a satellite after just two years in space, especially one that generated $85 million in revenue last year.
Dr. Marco Langbroek has a good observation about the failure, too:
The Worldview-4 satellite has failed. This is an important commercial high resolution satellite, that also plays a role in US national security, as the US Gov buys image capacity on this sat to augment their three KH-11 electro-optical satellites.
That’s an important loss, as what we assume is a new KH-11 sits on the pad at Vandenberg without an official launch date.