Orbital Enigma: What Caused Skynet to Shift Its Orbit and Why?

Return to the mystery of Skynet – 1A which worries across the Channel, in particular for what the out-of-service satellite could cause as a risk to other devices.

A satellite that did not serve long

Launched in November 1969, a few months after Man walked on the Moon, the military communications satellite broke down in June 1977 following a possible short circuit.

It was therefore left where it was, that is to say, in geostationary orbit above East Africa. So far nothing alarming since in the 1970s, and still today, satellite failures were common. Skynet – 1A was used by British forces as a communications relay.

However, today, Skynet 1-A, the oldest British satellite, is no longer where the United Kingdom left it and where the mystery deepens is that no one knows who did it, when it was done and, above all, why.

The Mystery of Skynet – 1A

Indeed, when it broke down in 1977, Skynet -1A was left in geostationary orbit (36,000 km altitude) above East Africa. It was estimated that the latter would end up drifting a little further towards the East and therefore towards the Indian Ocean.

However, looking at where he is today, this is not the case at all. Indeed, currently Skynet – 1A is located above the Pacific, almost above South America. A mystery which may seem futile and which does not necessarily deserve all the agitation that it causes across the Channel. But not in the light of Dr. Stuart Eves, a consultant specializing in the space field, who believes that “It's still interesting, because whoever moved Skynet -1A didn't do us any favors.” he declared to the BBC.

Only, no one knows who manipulated it to put it there and above all no consideration of the risks was taken into account. “He is now in what is called a “gravity well” at 105 degrees west longitude, wandering back and forth like a marble at the bottom of a bowl. Unfortunately, this regularly brings it close to other satellites. Because it is dead, the risk is that it will run into something, and because it is our satellite, we are still responsible for it.”

In other words, Skynet – 1A is today a space detritus which could cause others if it were to encounter another device and so on…

What hypotheses were put on the table?

Who says mystery, says investigation. So the BBC has done the dirty work to try to lift the veil on this almost 50-year-old enigma. If the logs and archives examined by Stuart Eves yielded nothing, the British media recalled an interesting fact.

Skynet – 1A was not originally a British satellite. No, in the 1970s, two superpowers were competing for space dominance. On one side the communist USSR and on the other the capitalist United States. Skynet – 1A came out of an American factory, was put into orbit by the Americans and was tested by the Americans. At one point, Uncle Sam's country had control.

And in 1977, when the satellite failed, control of Skynet – 1A returned to American hands. It would therefore seem that the responsibility for moving the satellite lies with the United States. However, nothing can explain why it was put into orbit in this particularly dangerous area.

Skynet – 1A still under surveillance

Today, when a satellite dies, there are two ways to prevent it from being a danger to other devices. If it is in low Earth orbit, it can be deorbited and returned to Earth where it will disintegrate in the atmosphere or sink to the bottom of the Ocean. If it is in geostationary orbit, it can be sent to an orbital graveyard, a place much higher than geostationary orbit where a satellite, like Skynet – 1A will not cross paths with another spacecraft.

However, in the 1970s, when the United States had just won the space race and the Western bloc had taken a big step toward victory in the Cold War, few people cared about the spatial sustainability. This is why even today, Skynet – 1A is constantly monitored by the United Kingdom so that its exact position is known at all times in case it comes across an active device.

Source: BBC