The Boeing-made Intelsat 33e satellite broke apart in orbit over the weekend. But company representatives don’t yet know why.

  • NaibofTabr
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    1 month ago

    I really hope it just broke apart… because the alternative is that somebody has an anti-satellite weapon that is fairly discreet (not as obvious as a missile fired from the ground) and that they’re willing to actively use.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Or just plain structural failure due to a design or manufacturing defect.

      • Comment105@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        I remember watching a Tech Ingredients video where I think they did the math on space lasers, I think the conclusion was that it would be technically possible to significantly impact local earth surface temperature with one. (Might’ve been a degree or two extra for 10km² or something like that, with a huge satellite, maybe around the size of Hubble, or bigger.)

        Of course, there’s no reason to believe some politicians’ insane ramblings about “Jewish Space Lasers”.

        Edit, found the video: https://youtu.be/-MVs37rxJL0?si=4Ztwq-FyOiB0uZqI

        If the topic seems insane, the caveat at 31:50 should probably correct the tone. This man doesn’t actually believe space lasers were used to start a big grass fire.

        Also, I remembered all the numbers very wrong.