Why did the UK’s first satellite end up thousands of miles from where it should have been? | Global News Avenue

Someone moved Britain’s oldest satellite, but there appear to be no specific records of who, when or why.

Launched in 1969, just months after humans first set foot on the moon, Skynet-1A was placed high above the east coast of Africa to relay communications for the British military.

In a few years, when the spacecraft ceases to function, gravity may pull it farther east, over the Indian Ocean.

But today, oddly enough, Skynet-1A is actually half a planet away, 22,369 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the Americas.

Orbital mechanics mean the half-ton military spacecraft is unlikely to simply drift to its current location.

It was almost certainly ordered in the mid-1970s to fire its thrusters to take it westward. The question is who is that person and what is his power and purpose?

Interestingly, critical information that was once a vital national security asset may disappear. But, fascination aside, you might also legitimately ask why it still matters. After all, we’re talking about space junk that was discarded 50 years ago.

“This is still important because whoever moved Skynet-1A did us no good,” said space consultant Dr. Stuart Eves.

“It’s now in what we call a ‘gravity well’ at 105 degrees west longitude, moving back and forth like a marble at the bottom of a bowl. Unfortunately, this puts it in constant close proximity to other satellite traffic.

“Because it’s dead, there’s a risk it could hit something, and because it’s ‘our’ satellite, we’re still responsible for it,” he explained.

Dr Eaves scoured old satellite catalogs, national archives and spoke to satellite experts around the world, but he could find no clues about the scrapping of Britain’s oldest spacecraft.

It’s probably easy to think of a conspiracy theory or two, especially since hearing the name “Skynet” makes it hard not to think of the evil, self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) system in the “Terminator” movies.

But there was no connection beyond the name, and real life was always more prosaic anyway.

What we do know is that the Skynet-1A was built in the United States by the now-defunct Philco Ford Aerospace Company and launched into space on a U.S. Air Force Delta rocket.

“The first Skynet satellite revolutionized the UK’s telecommunications capabilities, allowing London to communicate securely with British forces as far away as Singapore. However, from a technical perspective, Skynet 1A was more American than British because it was built by Built and launched by the United States,” Dr. Aaron Bateman said in a recent paper on the history of the Skynet program, now in its fifth generation.

This view is confirmed by Graham Davison, who flew Skynet 1A from the UK Operations Center at RAF Oakhanger in Hampshire in the early 1970s.

“The Americans initially took control of the satellite in orbit. They tested all our software against theirs and then eventually handed control over to the RAF,” the long-retired engineer told me.

Davidson, who is now in his 80s, said: “Essentially, there was dual control, but when or why Skynet 1A was handed back to the Americans, it seems possible – I’m afraid I can’t remember.”

Rachel Hill, a PhD student at University College London, has also been searching the National Archives.

Her reading led her to think of a very plausible possibility.

“The Skynet team from Oakanger will travel to the U.S. Air Force’s satellite facility in Sunnyvale, commonly known as Blue Cube, and operate Skynet during “Oakout.” Control is temporarily transferred to the United States at this time while Oakanger is due for necessary maintenance And the shutdown could happen then?” Ms. Hill speculated.

Official records of the status of Skynet 1A (albeit incomplete) indicate that when Oakhanger lost the satellite in June 1977, final command fell to the Americans.

But no matter how Skynet-1A was later moved to its current location, it was ultimately allowed to die in an awkward place when in fact it should have been placed in the “orbital graveyard.”

This refers to the higher regions of the sky where there is zero risk of old space debris hitting active telecommunications satellites.

Cemeteries are now standard practice, but back in the 1970s, no one was seriously considering space sustainability.

As the space realm becomes increasingly crowded, attitudes have changed.

At 105 degrees west longitude, an active satellite may see a piece of debris come within 50 kilometers of its position up to four times a day.

It may sound like they’re far away from each other, but at the speed these abandoned objects are moving, they’re starting to get a little too close for comfort.

The UK Ministry of Defense said Skynet-1A was being monitored by the UK’s National Space Operations Centre. If a particularly close conjunction is likely, other satellite operators will be notified if they need to take evasive action.

Eventually, though, the UK government may have to consider moving the old satellite to a safer location.

Technology is being developed to grab the junk left behind in space.

The UK Space Agency is already funding efforts to achieve this at low altitudes, and the United States and China have demonstrated that it is possible to capture aging hardware even in the kind of high orbits occupied by Skynet 1A.

“Space debris is like a ticking time bomb,” said Moriba Jah, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

“We need to avoid what I call super-spreading events. When these things explode or something collides with them, it creates thousands of pieces of debris that then cause harm to other things we care about.”