NEW YORK-The failure Nov. 30 of a PanAmSat satellite used by Pasific Satelit Nusantara in Indonesia is the latest problem “in an unprecedented year for us,” said Chuck H. Noski, president of Hughes Electronics Corp.
Hughes, based in Germantown, Md., is 81-percent owner of PanAmSat, which operates the Galaxy constellation. With 18 satellites covering 99 percent of the world’s population, Galaxy is the largest commercial satellite fleet in the world. By early 2000, PanAmSat expects to increase the number in orbit to 25, incorporating lessons learned from the problems experienced in 1998, Noski said Dec. 3 at a New York Society of Security Analysts meeting.
“We still have the best quality record in the industry … (However), it’s been a tough year for us, starting in May with our first catastrophic loss of a satellite,” he said.
“We own the satellite that got all the publicity in May when pager traffic was interrupted. This gave PanAmSat name recognition it didn’t before enjoy.”
Paging carriers account for only 1 percent to 2 percent of Galaxy’s $1.3 billion in revenues. Nevertheless, Noski said Hughes and PanAmSat “took this situation quite seriously because, in some cases, our customers’ businesses rely exclusively or substantially on our service.”
An investigation of the May incident revealed a flaw in engineering design and a flaw in the installation of the relay could cause a failure of both primary and backup spacecraft control processors “if five unique conditions (also) existed in space,” he said.
Since May, “we’ve had three other instances where the primary SCP failed from a common set of circumstances on other (Galaxy) satellites.”
In the latest incident, on Nov. 30, Noski said there “was too much electrolyte in the on-board batteries of a new satellite design.”
“These systems are very complex and they’re 22,300 miles (out) in space, so we can’t just send a repairman; but we have identified and corrected problems for new satellites being launched.”
Since May, Hughes and PanAmSat have put in place “new operating management” to study and improve satellite reliability.
“I am disappointed it took this set of circumstances in 1998 to get the attention of our engineers. But this has been a good wake-up call for them, and they are looking very hard at standardization,” Noski said. “Maybe they got too comfortable. My job is to make them less comfortable.”
The failures aboard those Galaxy satellites already in orbit could shorten their useful lives to an average of eight-to-10 years, down from 10-15 years, he added.
Aware of this situation, Hughes and PanAmSat “have created a back-up plan for our customers,” Noski said.
On the horizon, as a means to extend the useful life of satellites, is the fledgling Sea Launch project, which has experienced a number of delays to date. Sea Launch, of which Hughes/PanAmSat is “an anchor tenant,” plans to put satellites in orbit from a ship near the equator.
“The delays haven’t impacted us too much,” Noski said.
“If successful, Sea Launch will significantly increase satellite life because less fuel is needed.”
