Intelsat has announced that its 33e satellite has experienced a catastrophic power failure while in geostationary orbit.
The incident – which occurred on 19 October – has left customers across Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia Pacific without service.
Intelsat is currently collaborating with Boeing, the satellite’s manufacturer, to investigate the anomaly. However, the outlook appears grim, with Intelsat stating they “believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.”
Adding to the company’s woes, an Intelsat spokesperson confirmed that the satellite was not insured at the time of the incident—potentially leading to substantial financial implications for the firm.
In response to the crisis, Intelsat has initiated efforts to relocate affected customers to alternative satellites within its fleet or to spacecraft operated by third-party providers.
The ill-fated Intelsat 33e was launched in August 2016 and became operational in January 2017. The satellite has had a troubled history.
Intelsat 33e’s entry into service was delayed by approximately three months due to issues with its primary thruster. Subsequently, a second propulsion problem emerged during in-orbit tests that reduced the satellite’s expected lifespan from 15 years to just over 11. If the satellite is, as expected, irrecoverable, it failed around four years prior to even its lowered expected lifespan.
As the second satellite in Intelsat’s EpicNG (next-generation) series of high-throughput satellites, the loss of Intelsat 33e is a considerable blow to the company’s infrastructure.
This latest incident follows the total loss of Intelsat-29e in 2019, merely three years into its operational life. That earlier failure was attributed to either a meteoroid impact or a wiring flaw leading to an electrostatic discharge during heightened solar weather activity.
These consecutive losses raise questions about the reliability of Intelsat’s satellite fleet and the potential impact on the company’s ability to provide consistent service to its global customer base.
Boeing, the satellite’s manufacturer, has also faced no shortage of issues in recent years with numerous aircraft crashing or being grounded. In space, issues with Boeing’s Starliner left two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station—leading NASA to decide for the astronauts to return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in February instead.
Intelsat’s challenges highlight the complex and often unpredictable nature of satellite operations, underscoring the need for robust contingency plans.
Earlier this year, Luxembourg-based SES announced that it will acquire Intelsat in a $3.1 billion deal that will create a combined fleet of around 100 satellites in geostationary orbit. Hopefully, the merged companies will be able to get a handle on the issues that have plagued Intelsat.
Update: Intelsat’s 33e satellite has broken up into around 20 debris objects:
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Nokia, Colt, and Windstream complete transatlantic 800GbE trial
Nokia, Windstream, and Colt have completed an 800 Gigabit Ethernet (800GbE) trial spanning 8,500km between London and Chicago.
The trial, which connected two of the world’s largest financial trading hubs, showcased power-saving networking technologies from the three global tech firms. It pushed the boundaries of next-generation wavelength, capacity, speed, and latency across a subsea and terrestrial route.
Colt’s transatlantic subsea cable and terrestrial fibre optic network were linked with Windstream Wholesale’s low-latency US optical fibre Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON) to monitor speed and performance. This collaboration demonstrated the world’s first transoceanic 800GbE end-to-end service transport from router to router over 1Tbps optical transport.
Nokia’s sixth-generation Photonic Service Engine (PSE-6s) coherent optics and 7750 Service Router (SR) high-performance routing platforms were instrumental in the trial’s success. These technologies boosted internet service speeds and supported ultra-high wavelength capacity while maintaining power efficiency.
The 800G breakthrough doubles capacity, marking a significant advancement in service bandwidth. This development is crucial for supporting advanced network applications such as AI data centre networking, content delivery networks, and financial data hub connections.
Buddy Bayer, COO of Colt Technology Services, commented: “Pushing the boundaries of technology innovation is a fundamental part of our customer commitment: it means we stay a step ahead of the market, so we’re ready when our customers ask, ‘What’s next for us?’”
The successful trial has opened up new possibilities for global connectivity. The three organisations are now exploring options to bring 800GbE connectivity services to market for global business customers, potentially revolutionising cross-continental subsea and terrestrial communications.
Joe Scattareggia, President of Windstream Wholesale, hailed the trial as a “true game-changer for global connectivity”. He added, “By partnering with two extraordinary leaders in the industry, we’re enabling unprecedented bandwidth capabilities that are essential for driving AI-powered applications worldwide for our customers.”
This breakthrough comes at a time when demand for high-capacity, low-latency connections is surging, driven by the rapid growth of data-intensive applications and the increasing reliance on cloud services. The ability to transmit data at such high speeds across vast distances could have far-reaching implications for industries ranging from finance to healthcare and beyond.
As businesses continue to digitalise and expand their global operations, the need for robust, high-speed connectivity becomes ever more critical. This successful trial by Nokia, Windstream, and Colt demonstrates that the technology to meet these demands is not only possible but potentially within reach for commercial applications in the near future.
“Such an ambitious project – to link two of the world’s most important financial hubs – sets the bar very high for network capacity, speed, security, and reliability,” concludes Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure at Nokia.
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Source: Telecomstechnews
