VeneSat-1 satellite inactive since March 13, to be pushed into graveyard orbits

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Venezuela: VeneSat-1 satellite inactive since March 13, to be pushed into graveyard orbits

VenezuelaÂ’s first and only state-owned communications satellite has been out of service since March 13 when a series of maneuvers left it tumbling in an unusable orbit.

The VeneSat-1 satellite, built by China Great Wall Industry Corp. and launched in late 2008 on a 15-year mission to provide television and broadband services to Venezuela, has been stuck for 10 days in an elliptical orbit above the geostationary arc, according to telescopic observations from two U.S. companies that track satellites.

VeneSat-1Â’s operator, the Venezuelan space agency ABAE, had issued no status reports on the satellite as of March 23 and could not be reached for comment March 22 or March 23. In January, ABAE said Venezuela and China planned to develop a replacement satellite, VeneSat-2, that would continue service after VeneSat-1 retired.

VeneSat-1 entered service in January 2009, about three months after launching on a Chinese Long March 3B rocket. The satellite was expected to remain in service until at least 2024.

Since geostationary communications satellites typically take two to three years to build, Venezuela could face a coverage gap if it canÂ’t recover VeneSat-1 or use capacity on other satellites covering the region.

“Significant orbit change”

California-based ExoAnalytic Solutions, which operates a network of satellite- and debris-tracking telescopes, spotted a “significant orbit change” for VeneSat-1 on March 13 at 3:15 a.m. Eastern, when the satellite left its position at 78 degrees West longitude over Venezuela, Bill Therien, ExoAnalytic’s vice president of engineering, told SpaceNews. Approximately three hours later, the satellite conducted another maneuver that sent it tumbling westward, he said.

Telescope observations from ExoAnalytic and Pennsylvania-based AGI show VeneSat-1 tumbling in an elliptical orbit that at its lowest point is 50 kilometers above the geosynchronous arc where most large communications satellites reside. Venesat-1’s highest point, or apogee, is roughly 36,300 kilometers — or about 525 kilometers above the geosynchronous arc, according to the companies.

Bob Hall, AGI technical director for space situational awareness, said VeneSat-1 has drifted 30 degrees from its original orbital slot since March 13. If the satellite drifts another 40 degrees, it will be beyond line of sight from Venezuela, complicating any efforts to restore control of the spacecraft unless Venezuela relies on ground stations in other countries.

Collision risk low

When old or ailing geostationary satellites are taken out of service, operators are expected to maneuver them into so-called graveyard orbits typically 300 to 500 kilometers above the geosynchronous belt. At such altitudes, dead satellites should continue to orbit for thousands of years without endangering active satellites.

AGIÂ’s and ExoAnalyticÂ’s observations suggest VeneSat-1Â’s operators lost contact with the satellite while attempting to move it into a proper, non-elliptical graveyard orbit.

The low point, or perigee, in VeneSat-1’s elliptical orbit, Hall said, may “barely kiss” the notification threshold for operators of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, but is unlikely to cause alarm. The satellite’s apogee is well within graveyard orbit, he said.

Hall noted that operators have been able contact and recover tumbling satellites if they arenÂ’t severely damaged. Most satellites have two omnidirectional antennas on opposite sides to ensure a means of contact, he said.

In 2017, EchoStar and SES both lost contact with ailing satellites but were able to restore contact and safely retire them into graveyard orbit.

 

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Venezuela's Only Telecoms Satellite is Lost in Space

BOGOTA – Venezuela’s only telecommunications satellite has veered off its orbit and stopped working, creating a logistical headache for the cash-strapped nation.

The Chinese-built satellite was launched among much fanfare in 2008 under the watch of former President Hugo Chavez, who said the 6-ton machine would help to “construct 21st-century socialism” and contribute to Venezuela’s “independence and sovereignty.”

But as ChavezÂ’s socialist revolution decays under U.S. sanctions and years of economic mismanagement, the prized satellite is tumbling in space and has become useless three years before its planned expiration date of 2023.

The satellite was helping to provide internet services to rural areas that are not connected to fiber-optic cables and was also being used to broadcast VenezuelaÂ’s heavily politicized state-run television channels into poor or rural homes that have no access to cable TV.

“Now the government will need to resort to international satellite providers to distribute its content” to the poorest Venezuelans, said William Pena, a Venezuelan journalist who specializes on telecommunications.

But migrating to commercial satellites will cost millions of dollars and could be hindered by U.S. sanctions.

State-run television will continue to be broadcast through cable operators and old-fashioned antennas. But Pena said that it will be harder to access in some parts of the country where telecommunications infrastructure is crumbling. A report published in 2018 by VenezuelaÂ’s official National Telecommunications Commission noted that only 6 in 10 homes have paid television services.

The satelliteÂ’s problems were first noticed on March 13, when ExoAnalytic Solutions, a California company that tracks global satellite traffic, reported that VeneSat-1 had veered away from its position above Venezuela and was tumbling westward.

The findings were confirmed by AGI a Pennsylvania-based satellite tracking company. Both found that the satellite was significantly veering off its programmed course.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Science confirmed on Wednesday that the Simon Bolivar Satellite — named after Venezuela’s independence hero — was no longer operational. It did not provide details.

William Therien, vice president of engineering for ExoAnalytic Solutions, said satellites can be forced out of their orbit by factors that include overheating, a component failure or impact from micrometeors.

Analysts in Venezuela believe that the satellite could have been lost due to a shortage of fuel.

The satellite was placed at an orbital slot that was not ideal for providing services to Venezuela, meaning that more fuel had to be spent to keep it on track.

“Many people in the industry thought it would not last the full 15 years” said Patrick Boza, a Venezuelan telecommunications consultant. “When this satellite was put in orbit, more fuel than usual was spent trying to stabilize it.”

The Venezuelan satellite was placed in an orbital slot assigned to Uruguay. Pena said a better slot belonged to the Andean Community of Nations, a multinational bloc that Venezuela was in the process of leaving because the group was pushing for a free-trade agreement with the United States.

“Venezuela struck a deal with Uruguay because it was an ideologically friendly nation,” Pena said. “But it was not the ideal position. The satellite fell to ideological arrogance.”


Current location 143.513 West https://www.satellite-calculations.com/Satellite/Catalog/catalogID.php?33414

 

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Solar array problem killed VenezuelaÂ’s VeneSat-1, officials confirm

WASHINGTON — Venezuela confirmed its first and only government-operated communications satellite, VeneSat-1, suffered a mission-ending failure that its Chinese builder blamed on a solar array problem.

Satellite trackers at U.S. companies AGI and ExoAnalytic Solutions on March 13 spotted VeneSat-1 tumbling in an unusual orbit above the geostationary arc.

On March 25, after SpaceNews reported the apparent satellite failure, VenezuelaÂ’s ministry of science and technology acknowledged the loss of VeneSat-1 but did not provide a cause.

However, Fu Zhiheng, executive vice president of China Great Wall Industry Corp., which built VeneSat-1 for the Venezuelan government, told SpaceNews the satellite suffered a solar array drive assembly problem that resulted in VeneSat-1Â’s failure and emergency relocation effort.

Drive assemblies point a satelliteÂ’s solar arrays at the sun to provide power. A failure of both drive assemblies can leave a satellite operator with just hours of battery power to retire its spacecraft before it becomes inoperable, according to an industry source familiar with satellite designs. Geostationary satellites are typically retired into so-called graveyard orbits high enough to prevent them from posing a hazard to operating satellites.

VeneSat-1Â’s operators performed two maneuvers March 13 to relocate the ailing satellite above the geostationary belt, a popular orbit roughly 36,000 kilometers above the equator.

The first maneuver stretched VeneSat-1Â’s orbit from circular to elliptical, with a high point, or apogee, about 525 kilometers above the geosynchronous arc, Bill Therien, ExoAnalytic Solutions vice president of engineering, said by email. A second maneuver followed three hours later that raised its low point, or perigee, by 50 kilometers, he said. VeneSat-1 began tumbling shortly after that second maneuver, he said.

Therien described the orbit as “not typical,” but still high enough to steer clear of active spacecraft. A nominal graveyard orbit is circular and at least 300 kilometers above the geosynchronous arc, he said.

VeneSat-1 was China Great WallÂ’s third satellite based on its DFH-4 platform but only the first to operate past its infancy. The first DFH-4 satellite, SinoSat-2, failed shortly after launch in 2006 because its solar arrays never fully opened. The second DFH-4 satellite, NigComSat-1, failed in 2008 because of problems with its solar array drive assemblies.

More than a dozen DFH-4 satellites have launched since then without reported issues. But the first high-capacity DFH-4E satellite, ChinaSat-18, failed last year from a power failure shortly after launch.

An industry source said VeneSat-1Â’s failure appears to have had no impact on the launch schedule for Nusantara-2, an Indonesian satellite based on a DFH-4 platform scheduled for April on a Long March 3B rocket.

VeneSat-1 failed three years before its expected end of life. The satellite, also called the Simon Bolivar satellite, provided television broadcasting and broadband connectivity services.