In an intriguing turn of events, still functioning after decades of its operational life was over, the UK’s oldest satellite, Skynet-1A, has changed its position in space. This military satellite was launched in 1969 and should have remained over the east coast of Africa up to now.
But now it is thousands of miles away and high above the Americas. This maneuver points to orbital maneuvering, and it begs some answers to such questions as who ordered this move and why? This leaves the audience scratching their heads as specialists visit archives, which yield no results.
A mystery of orbital mechanics: How did Skynet-1A move westward?
Skynet-1A satellite was intended to hover over the east coast of Africa and provide communication services to the British forces. The satellite should have been naturally pointing further eastward over the Indian Ocean after it was closed down 18 months after its launch. Instead, it is now in a “gravity well” over the western hemisphere, a place it could not get to without help.
Scientists, including Dr. Stuart Eves, theorize that someone must have maneuvered its thrusters in the mid-1970s, but no documents support this. As understandable as this may be, this even raises concerns about the move per se but more so the impetus behind it. The satellite is no longer operational and threatens to crash into working spacecraft in the vicinity, coming perilously close to other traffic more than once daily. The stakes are high, and this is more so as Earth’s orbit gets increasingly crowded with every year that passes.
Further confusing, documents indicate that the satellite’s last commands were sent in 1977. However, one cannot understand why it was moved and from whom it got its authorization. Could it have been an operational decision never recorded, or does this point to something more sinister?
Who could be responsible: Speculations and historical clues
Identifying the people who moved to Skynet-1A has also not been easy. Historical archives and satellite catalogs have not answered this question. However, theories abound. It may have been that the movement happened during what was known as “Oakout,” when control moved to the U.S. Air Force’s Sunnyvale facility for maintenance.
Rachel Hill, a PhD student at University College London, speculates that perhaps the satellite was moved during this time due to shared control. This possibility is quite reasonable, especially because of the dual control system that was in place between the U.K. and the U.S. in Skynet-1A’s early years. However, there is no direct evidence of this theory. Therefore, this may be assumed.
Another angle is that the satellite was built and launched by Americans. Sponsored by Americans and constructed and launched by the United States, it is possible that the Americans decided the device’s course once Britain lost control of its operations. These issues beg the question of how intergovernmental exchange and record-keeping were managed in the infancy of satellite systems.
The consequences: Space debris and modern challenges
While it is exciting to contemplate where Skynet-1A is going, it is far more concerning to know where it is now. Currently, in a very sensitive position, it flies near active satellites more often, resulting in a high risk of crashes. These events could produce debris fields that are hazardous to valuable assets, exacerbating the already sensitive problem of space debris.
Currently in use, Graveyard orbits were not in practice in the 1970s. Thus, Skynet-1A remained in an unsuitable posture for today’s space traffic control. If left to circulate freely, such debris could cause ‘super-spreader events’ in which impacts produce hundreds of thousands of further, unpredictable particles.
Space cleaning initiatives are on the way. The U.S. and China have already presented technologies for recovering high-orbit space debris, while the U.K. is also developing similar technologies. Presumably, Britain and the entire world space community are interested in the fact that Skynet-1A is located in a relatively unsafe region.
The story of a now obsolete Soviet-era satellite known as Skynet-1A is a lesson in the implications of human actions in space. Its random motion raises questions about the historical archives and underscores the importance of multi-state cooperation in space stewardship. In the future, as communication and other technologies advance, there will be a need to regain command over old satellites such as Skynet-1A to avoid disastrous impacts that may lead to creating a space debris ring around the Earth.