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Two German-built spy satellites apparently failed immediately after launch

According to a report in the German press, two spy satellites launched in December 2023 apparently never became operational because the antennas on both failed to deploy.

According to the German publication Der Spiegel, the antennas on the satellites cannot be unfolded. Engineers with OHB have tried to resolve the issue by resetting the flight software, performing maneuvers to vibrate or shake the antennas loose, and more to no avail.

As a result, last week, German lawmakers were informed that the two new satellites will probably not go into operation as planned.

The report also notes that, because both satellites never became operational, they remain the responsibility of the building, a German company OHB. It will have to replace them out of its own pocket. It also appears that the company never tested the antenna deployment system prior to launch.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • Col Beausabre

    Responsibility of the builder, not building.

    Given how badly the Russians infiltrated Germany during the Communists era, the current bad blood over aid to Ukraine and the obvious target of these recon birds, one has to wonder about sabotage.

  • pzatchok

    I am all for a little sabotage and subterfuge.

    But its easier to payoff the boss to not do the testing.

    This is one good reason to have a way to fix these things in orbit. Or at least boost them high enough to be repaired later.

  • John

    That’s what they want you to think.

    “Cease operations and cover the asset, the satellites will be overhead in 30 minutes.”

    “It’s OK, they never got the antenna open.”

    “Do you believe everything on the internet?”

  • pzatchok

    They didn’t even have to announce the launch. Or they could have said it was anything else.

    Acknowledging the failure is just bringing attention to it.

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