This is a blunder which the European Space Agency could well have done. After the failed launch Friday from two satellites of Galileo (the European equivalent of GPS) program, European engineers seeking to understand what happened. Sat-Sat-5 and 6 were in fact achieved, thanks to the Russian Soyuz, a circular orbit at about 23,000 km altitude. Unfortunately, they are currently on an elliptical orbit about 17,000 miles high.
According to preliminary information provided by Arianespace, responsible for launching satellites, “an anomaly has occurred within the phase flight of the upper floor, leading to an injection of satellites in an illegal “orbit. The company promises “to shed light on this anomaly. Arianespace teams are mobilized to achieve this.”
A 6000 kilometers from the point of appointment
Anyway, it seems very difficult to redirect the satellite in the right orbit. Galileo Sat-Sat-5 and 6 are smaller gear (700 pounds each), with engines and tanks of small capacity. They are designed to adjust their trajectory to the margin once they are in orbit but not for space travel or perform complex maneuvers. However, the distance to go to reach the orbit is about 6,000 kilometers, which makes the task almost impossible. Satellites are certainly lost.
This blunder is another blow for the European program launched in 1998, which appears already six years late. The loss of the two satellites is likely to cause further delays and significant cost overruns. Each vehicle is estimated at about forty million which must be added the 70 million it costs to launch two satellites, a total of 150 million euros lost in space. Although this represents only 2% of the overall budget (€ 7 billion financed by the European Union), it is still harmful to misplace such a sum in heaven.
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