The recent Samsung Note 7 battery and the SpaceX explosions show things go wrong in spite of our best planning
It was shocking to see the recent photos and videos of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploding during a routine preflight test as well as the images of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in which the batteries exploded while being charged. In both cases, these mobile products were thought to be working fine – no one expected that in a very brief time both of these very complex products would end up exploding in dramatic fashion.
In the case of SpaceX, the rocket was in preflight test mode getting ready to launch a satellite over sub-Saharan Africa for Facebook, which was planning to bring low-cost internet to millions of people who do not have easy access to the internet. It’s a blow to both Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX and to Mark Zuckerberg and his team at Facebook.
Musk is trying to get the cost of launching spacecraft into orbit down by a factor of 10 or more compared to the cost of a Space Shuttle mission. He’s proven that once launched, the rockets can return safely to Earth to be used again. With some hard work, they will likely determine exactly what caused the massive explosion and, as a result, fix it so it won’t happen again.
It’s a bigger blow to Facebook because the Amos-6 satellite, built by Israel’s Space-Communications, was completely destroyed so it will take a long time – a year or two – to rebuild the satellite. I expect another similar satellite will eventually get built and launched into orbit to begin providing low-cost internet service.
The catastrophe from the Galaxy Note 7 batteries exploding is a big blow to Samsung. The company had worked hard to outdo Apple with the introduction of the Galaxy S7 smartphone in June. Sales picked up, and the company got very bullish about the introduction of the Galaxy Note 7 that has a larger display and also integrates the Samsung S-Pen technology that enables users to more easily draw and take notes on their system.
With the launch of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung quickly ramped up production, using a different battery supplier in different regions of the world. The prelaunch testing wasn’t with the batteries to be used in the Galaxy Note 7 devices that would be shipped into the U.S. However, they sold 2.1 million units following the launch. Everything seemed to be going well – just as it had been with SpaceX – when the batteries in the U.S. Note 7 devices started exploding.
It was fortunate for Samsung that the batteries in the U.S. Note 7 came from a different supplier than the suppliers in different regions around the world. That should make it easier for Samsung to get back into production by shipping batteries from other regions to the U.S. so the deices can be shipped with batteries that don’t apparently have any problems.
Certainly, both Samsung and SpaceX will work hard to find out what caused each catastrophe. Samsung will use batteries from other suppliers and work hard with the supplier whose batteries failed on charging to ensure such a problem doesn’t happen again.
SpaceX actually has two “fixes.” The first, of course, is to find out what caused the explosion during the fueling of the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket and then to make changes so it won’t happen ever again.
But, there is a second fix that SpaceX faces: The company likely will have to absorb the cost to build a replacement communications satellite for Facebook, which certainly will want to provide internet access to tens of millions of people living in the South-Saharan area.
Getting bugs out of new technology is difficult because as systems get more complex it becomes more challenging to look at all possible kinds of failure. There’s a lesson for startups: Don’t try to invent too much in the first product. It’s better to include something new, but to limit your total risk to only those things you can manage. That will increase the likelihood of a successful first product. Hence, always build the minimally viable product first and then continue to improve on it.
We send supportive thoughts out to everyone working at Samsung and SpaceX. We hope your products get fixed as soon as possible. And, to SpaceX, we can wait to see you land people on Mars.
Gerry Purdy leads AOTMP’s mobile and wireless practice. He contributes to AOTMP programs; authors “Mobile Letter,” a weekly syndicated column; and heads the annual Mobility Awards program. He is widely quoted in the press, and has appeared on a number of TV news shows such as MSNBC, Fox Business and CNN regarding mobile and wireless products. Purdy has a Ph.D. from Stanford University, an M.S. From UCLA and a B.S. from the University of Tennessee. Contact: Gerry.Purdy@aotmp.com, mobile 404-855-9494.
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