Chronology of satellite failures

This list includes in-orbit failures of Earth satellites only (with a few exceptions). Failures that occurred before a spacecraft was declared operational (i.e. during in-orbit testing, in transfer orbit etc.) are marked "IOT." Failures that occurred during manufacturing and testing on the ground are not included. Rocket launch failures can be found on a separate page. All dates and times UTC unless otherwise noted. Send additions or corrections

Earlier years:
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993

Date

Satellite

Event

May 2012 EchoStar I, VI, XI, XIV Several anomalies announced
8 Apr 2012 Envisat Contact lost, reason unknown - declared lost in May 2012
Apr 2012 AMC-16 Solar array circuit failure
7 Mar 2012 SkyTerra 1 Knocked off for several days by solar flare; recovered
Jan 2012 AMC-16 Solar array circuit failure

 

Date

Satellite

Event

20 Dec 2011 Yamal 201 Temporary outage
9 Nov 2011 Fobos-Grunt Stranded in low-Earth orbit, total loss
Nov 2011 DirecTV 10 Propulsion problems in Q3 2011 announced
Oct 2011 Mars Express Solid-state mass memory system anomalies; science observations halted
6 Oct 2011 Anik F2 Temporary attitude loss caused by faulty software update
13/14 Sep 2011 Ciel 2 Outage of several hours
May 2011 Telstar 14R South solar panel fails to unfold (IOT)
27 May 2011 New Dawn C-band antenna reflector stuck (IOT)
21 Apr 2011 ALOS Power loss
20 Apr 2011 Thaicom 5 3-hour outage starting 0910 UTC (electrostatic discharge)
30 Jan 2011 EchoStar 8 Temporarily off position after single event upset

 

Date

Satellite

Event

23 Dec 2010 Galaxy 15 Satellite loses battery power, reboots, put in safe mode
28 Oct 2010 Eutelsat W3B Fuel leak, total loss few hours after launch
Sep 2010 Sinosat 6 Helium leak, reduced life time
23 Aug 2010 IGS 4B Power failure, status unknown
14 Aug 2010 AEHF 1 Stranded in transfer orbit after failure of liquid apogee engine
July 2010 GOCE Glitch prevents science data transmission (recovered Sep. 2010)
7 July 2010 INSAT 4B Solar array anomaly; 50% power loss
5 Apr 2010 Galaxy 15 Contact lost, transponders still working
12 Mar 2010 Aura Attitude disturbance, slight power loss
Mar 2010 AMC-16 Further degradation of solar arrays, some transponders switched off
1 Feb 2010 IS-4 (PAS-4) Out of service after anomaly, moved to junk orbit
27 Jan 2010 Satmex V Loss of XIPS propulsion system, operational life shortened
27 Jan 2010 Eutelsat W2 Out of service after anomaly, moved to junk orbit
Jan 2010 Sterkh 1
Sterkh 2
Announcement: both satellites failed shortly after launch


Date

Satellite

Event

11 Dec 2009 GeoEye 1 Problem with transmit antenna pointing mechanism
2 Dec 2009 Koronas-Foton Contact lost after power supply problem; total loss
Dec 2009 Landsat 5 Lost transponder replaced by one thought to have failed earlier
11 Nov 2009 MTSAT-1R 15.5-hour outage
12 Sep 2009 Eurobird 1 90-minute outage starting at 2124 UTC
followed by intermittent attitude problems
28 Aug 2009 Chandrayaan 1 Contact lost; mission abandoned
24 Aug 2009 Orbcomm Coast Guard demo satellite fails
13 Aug 2009 Landsat 5 1-day outage
7 Aug 2009 Orbcomm More problems with "Quick Launch" satellites
3 Aug 2009 Herschel SEU causes anomaly in HIFI instrument
31 Jul 2009 Orbcomm More problems with "Quick Launch" satellites
13 Jul 2009 Sinosat 3 12-hour outage, starting at 1350 UTC
3 June 2009 Yamal 202 8½-hour outage
May 2009 Eutelsat W2A IOT: S-band payload anomaly announced
May 2009 GeoEye 1 Problems with colour imagery announced
22 Feb 2009 Orbcomm Total loss of one satellite expected after power system failure
10 Feb 2009 Iridium 33 Destroyed in accidental collision with defunct Russian milsat
9 Feb 2009 Chinasat 6B 47-minute outage starting 0259; recovered
28 Jan 2008 Eutelsat W2M IOT: Major anomaly of power subsystem, likely total loss
16 Jan 2009 Astra 5A Total loss after malfunction announced
6 Jan 2009 GOES 12 Return to service


Date

Satellite

Event

14 Dec 2008 GOES 12 Offline after thruster problems
26 Nov 2008 KazSat 1 Control lost again
10 Nov 2008 Orbcomm Operating company discloses several earlier satellite problems
9 Nov 2008 NigComSat 1 Second solar array fails; total loss
5 Nov 2008 Astra 5A Control regained
30 Oct 2008 Hubble Space Telescope Regular science operations resumed
22 Oct 2008 Astra 5A Control lost
18 Oct 2008 XMM Newton Contact lost; later re-established
Oct 2008 KazSat 1 Control regained
28 Sept 2008 Hubble Space Telescope Failure of Hubble Control Unit/Science Data Formatter (Side A)
mid-Sept 2008 DSP 23 Total loss
9 Sept 2008 GIOVE B Safe mode triggered by SEU; service restored 24 Sept
Sept 2008 Koreasat 5 12-hour outage, service restored
Aug 2008 various SES announces solar array problems with LM-A2100 satellites
14 July 2008 EchoStar 2 Power system failure, total loss
29 June 2008 Galaxy 26 Partial failure of power system, half of capacity lost
16/17 June 2008 Eutelsat W5 One of two solar arrays lost owing to motor malfunction
8 June 2008 KazSat 1 Onboard computer failure, control lost
26 Apr 2008 GIOVE-B Safe mode after reaction wheel glitch, recovered after 24 hours
17 Apr 2008 NigComSat 1 One of two solar arrays lost
19 Mar 2008 MetOp-A Two anomalies, payload switched off temporarily
21 Feb 2008 NRO-L21 Failed satellite deliberately destroyed by missile
9 Jan 2008 KazSat 1 7-hour outage after control system software problem
Jan 2008 Ulysses Failure of main X-band transmitter

 

Date

Satellite

Event

30 Dec 2007 Arirang 1 Contact lost; mission terminated
29 Dec 2007 RASCOM-QAF1 IOT: Leak in helium sub-system detected
4 Dec 2007 GOES-12 Three-day attitude loss after routine stationkeeping manoeuvre
Dec 2007 Ekspress-AM22 Report: all gyros lost, possibly total loss (unconfirmed)
Oct 2007 Landsat 5 Diminished battery capacity after cell failure
26 Sep 2007 Arabsat 2A Two-hour outage
17 Sep 2007 MetOp-A 1½-day outage
Aug 2007 FUSE Last reaction wheel lost; mission terminated
Aug 2007 Anik F3 Ka-band payload cannot be activated
4 July 2007 MetOp-A Advanced High Resolution Picture Transmission fails
3 July 2007 Solidaridad II Report: 10-hour outage
July 2007 Nahuel 1 Report: failure of more than half of onboard thrusters
June 2007 EchoStar V Eighth solar array strip lost
22 May Meteosat-8 Orbit change, likely hit by unknown object
21/22 May 2007 XM 3 Software glitch, 1-day outage
5 Apr 2007 Yamal 201 Attitude loss, 6-hour outage
25 Mar 2007 IGS Radar 1 Shutdown after power system problem
19 Mar 2007 New Horizons Temporary safe mode after memory error, recovered
14 Mar 2007 Hotbird 2 Anomaly in power sub-system
6 Mar 2007 Universitetsky Stops transmitting for unknown reason
4 Mar 2007 Orbview 3 Stops sending usable imagery
Mar 2007 Orbital Express/ASTRO IOT: Guidance problem, resolved by software update
Feb 2007 EchoStar II Rotation of north solar panel fails, switched to backup
Feb 2007 Beidou 1D (2A) Fails to deploy solar arrays, problem resolved in Apr 2007
Feb 2007 Kiku No. 8 IOT: part of payload cannot be activated
27 Jan 2007 HST Safe mode after permanent failure of ACS instrument, recovered
11 Jan 2007 FY-1C Satellite disintegrates as result of Chinese anti-satellite weapon test -- total loss
2 Jan 2007 INSAT-4A

Thirty-minute outage owing to "solar disturbances"

 

Date

Satellite

Event

14 Dec 2006 NRO-L21 IOT: safe mode, contact could not be re-established, total loss
17 Nov 2006 Kosmos 2423 Satellite disintegrates leaving 28 trackable objects
7 Nov 2006 Sinosat 2 IOT: Solar array/antenna deployment fails, total loss
4 Nov 2006 MetOp-A IOT: temporary payload shutdown, one LRPT transmitter lost
2 Nov 2006 MGS Battery failure caused by faulty data upload, total loss
Nov 2006 Optus D1 IOT: New Zealand beam has wrong polarisation
Oct 2006 Sicral 1 Loss of control for several weeks
26 Oct 2006 PAS-6B Several-hour outage, all services restored
9 Oct 2006 W3A Temporary outage at 0420, all services restored by 1545
3/4 Oct 2006 Hotbird 3 Substantial damage to a solar array and partial power loss
1 Oct 2006 Thaicom 3 Put in graveyard orbit after power problems; total loss
23 Sep 2006 Meteosat 8 Safe mode after Single Event Upset
22 Sep 2006 Intelsat 802 "Sudden and unexpected anomaly"
30 Jun 2006 HST Primary electronics of ACS instrument fail
29 May 2006 COMPASS 2 IOT: Low voltage, various malfunctions
16 Apr 2006 MTSAT-1R 20-hour outage after onboard computer glitch
30 Mar 2006 Optus B1 Outage after 'routine manoeuvre'
28 Mar 2006 Ekspress-AM11 Depressurisation of thermal control system, total loss
Mar 2006 TDRS 3 Outage
18 Jan 2006 TOPEX/Poseidon Mission abandoned after reacton wheel failure
15 Jan 2006 Galaxy IIIR Failure of backup SCP, total loss
Jan 2006 Landsat 5 Problem with solar array drive fixed, operations resumed

 

Date

Satellite

Event

Dec 2005 IMAGE Power supply subsystems fail, total loss
26 Nov 2005 Landsat 5 Back-up solar array drive exhibits "unusual behaviour"
24 Nov 2005 Kirari [OICETS] One of four reaction wheels fails
27 Oct 2005 SSETI Express Shutdown following undervoltage condition caused by design flaw
18 Oct 2005 Monitor-E Loss of attitude control, reason unknown
Oct 2005 TOPEX/Poseidon Reaction wheels fails; mission terminated Jan 2006
29 Sep 2005 Yamal 202 Attitude loss, 24-hour outage caused by software glitch
23 Sep 2005 MTSAT-1R Six-hour outage
14 Sep 2005 Koreasat 2 90-minute outage caused by attitude loss
8 Sep 2005 Mars Global Surveyor Emerges from safe mode
26 Aug 2005 Mars Global Surveyor Safe mode after switching from backup to primary SCP failed
10 Aug 2005 Eutelsat W1 10-hour outage after attitude loss
8 Aug 2005 Suzaku Failure of X-ray spectrometer
30 July 2005 Mars Global Surveyor Switch to backup SCP for unknown reason
22 July 2005 JCSAT 1B Loss of attitude
21 May 2005 Optus B1 Primary SCP fails, operating on backup
19 Apr 2005 Garuda 1 Power level restored to 95 percent
15 Apr 2005 DART Navigational errors cause fuel depletion, mission ends prematurely
5 Apr 2005 Garuda 1 Almost complete loss of power, unknown reason
Mar 2005 MTSAT-1R Loss of 2 out of 6 air traffic transponders, probably triggered by electrical discharge
Jan 2005 Landsat 5 Solar array drive fails
25-27 Jan 2005 AO-40 Catastrophic failure of main battery pack
21 Jan 2005 Gravity Probe B Recovering from failures caused by proton storm
17 Jan 2005 JCSat 1B Thruster anomaly, temporary outage

14 Jan 2005

IS-804

Electrical anomaly, total loss


Date

Satellite

Event

27 Dec 2004 FUSE Reaction wheel fails, safe mode
2 Dec 2004 IA-7 Contact and control regained
28 Nov 2004 Superbird-A2 Pressure drop in one of two fuel tanks
28 Nov 2004 IA-7 Power failure, considered total loss
13 Oct 2004 Satmex V Attitude problems after temporary safe mode
12 Sep 2004 Thaicom 3 Outage of several hours
Aug 2004 Amazonas Pressure drop in one of two oxidiser tanks (IOT)

3 Aug 2004

Galaxy 10R

Loss of secondary XIPS - lifetime shortened to 3 years

1 Apr 2004

PAS-6

Another power anomaly, total loss

Mar 2004

Galaxy 10R

"Possible problems" related to one of the XIPS systems on board reported

17 Mar 2004

PAS-6

Power anomaly, moved to storage orbit

Jan 2004

EchoStar III

Failure of two more TWTAs

Jan 2004

Telstar 14
Estrela do Sul

IOT: North solar array deployed only partially, less than half of planned capacity available


Date

Satellite

Event

Dec 2003

EchoStar V

Loss of a second momentum wheel

Dec 2003

Atlantic Bird 1

Several hours-long outages reported, insurance claim likely

24/26 Dec 2003

Asiasat 2

Two related temporary outages caused by loss of attitude, reason unknown

Nov 2003 Yamal 101 IOT: unknown failure, total loss
Nov 2003 Satmex V Secondary XIPS fails; primary XIPS still operational

Nov 2003

e-Bird

IOT: problem reported with one of four beams that will limit service

Oct 2003

Chandra

Build-up of grease on an optical filter in front of one of its cameras

More anomalies attributed to solar activity in autumn 2003

28 Oct 2003

Mars Odyssey

Martian radiation environment experiment (MARIE) stops working properly

28 Oct 2003

Kodama [DRTS]

Temporary safe mode, triggered by increased noise received by Earth sensor. Recovered 7 Nov 2003

26 Oct 2003

SMART 1

Various problems related to increased radiation level in transfer orbit

26 Oct 2003

INTEGRAL

One instrument temporarily goes into safe mode because of increased radiation

24 Oct 2003

Midori [ADEOS] II

Power supply problem, contact lost, total loss

25 Sep 2003

AMC-5

Lost Earth lock at 0304 UTC. All services restored at 1511 UTC.

19 Sep 2003

Telstar 4

Shut down after a short circuit of its primary power bus, total loss

9 Jul 2003

PAS-6B

Backup xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS) fails, lifetime shortened

End of Jun 2003

Galaxy IVR

Backup xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS) fails, lifetime shortened

Jun 2003

Mars Express

Faulty connection decreases available power by 30 percent

Jun 2003

ICESat

One of three lasers aboard fails

Jun 2003

SOHO

High-gain antenna stuck, unknown reason

31 May 2003

Landsat 7

Enhanced Thematic Mapper failure -- loss of Scan Line Corrector

4 May 2003

MSAT 1

Loss of two power amplifiers

Apr 2003

Kosmos 2397

Gas leak in pressurisation system of fuel tanks

Mar 2003

EchoStar VIII

Loss of a third thruster

20 Feb 2003

Nimiq 2

Malfunction affects available power, some transponders off

6 Feb 2003

Thaicom 3

Temporary outages caused by short circuit in solar array drive mechanism


Date

Satellite

Event

30 Dec 2002

Radarsat 1

Attitude control restored using torque rods

27 Nov 2002

Radarsat 1

Backup momentum wheel fails, loss of attitude

Oct 2002

EchoStar VIII

Second onboard thruster anomaly

17 Oct 2002

MSG-1

IOT: Failure of Solid State Power Amplifier C (SSPA-C)

30 Sep 2002

TDRS I

Spacecraft reaches final orbit although one propellant fuel tank did not properly pressurise after launch

23 Sep 2002

Nozomi

Contact with spacecraft re-established after knock-out by Coronal Mass Ejection on 21 Apr 2002

Sep 2002

EchoStar VIII

Onboard thruster anomaly

15 Aug 2002

CONTOUR

Contact with spacecraft lost, reason unknown

12 Aug 2002

Globalstar

Company announces recovery of satellites "in many cases;" only two declared failed

Aug 2002

Echostar VI

Three solar array strings lost since 2001

Jul 2002

Echostar V

Two solar array strings lost since 2001

30 Jun 2002

Echostar IV

Number of lost transponders has reached 38 out of 44

27 Jun 2002

Aqua

Single Event Upset, safe/hold condition, operations restored one day later

4 May 2002

DirecTV 3

SCP failure

21 Apr 2002

Kosmos 539

Hit by space debris or meteoroid

21 Apr 2002

Genesis

Star tracker blinded 4 times during solar storm (high energy protons)

21 Apr 2002

Nozomi

Hit by solar storm, loss of most communications, one instrument damaged

16 Apr 2002

Globalstar

Over the past 13 months, 7 of the company's satellites experienced anomalies and were taken out of service

11 Apr 2002

Telstar 6

Satellite reportedly out of control for 3 hours, reason unknown

12 Mar 2002

TDRS I

Loss of pressurisation in one fuel tank while in transfer orbit

23 Feb 2002

BeppoSAX

Failure of four battery cells, mission had to be terminated

5 Feb 2002 SOHO Emergency Sun Reacquisition (ESR) mode - back to normal on 8 Feb

Jan 2002

Echostar III

Failure of another transponder pair; 32 of 44 transponders left


Date

Satellite

Event

Dec 2001

Cassini

Narrow angle camera is showing some haze; problem later resolved by using heaters

15 Dec 2001

Yohkoh

Safe mode during solar eclipse, unexpected spin, loss of control

10 Dec 2001

FUSE

y-axis reaction wheel stops working; spacecraft temporarily in safe mode

7 Dec 2001

Arabsat 3A

Permanent loss of several transponders, caused by short circuit in solar array drive mechanism

25 Nov 2001

FUSE

x-axis reaction wheel stops working

23 Oct 2001

Echostar VI

Loss of two solar array strings (of a total of 112) announced

Sep 2001

BeppoSAX

Last of six gyroscopes fails. Satellite now operates in gyroless mode

Sep 2001

Genesis

Thermal control problem caused by faulty radiator

Sep 2001

Echostar V

Third TWTA switched off, replaced with spare

Sep 2001

(various)

Boeing announces power degradation on 702 model solar arrays

6 Sep 2001

PAS-7

Sudden loss of 25 percent of power, to be declared "Constructive Total Loss"

Aug 2001

Echostar V

Thruster anomaly, short interruption of service

14 Aug 2001

Globalstar

Globalstar announces loss of two satellites during 2001

11 Aug 2001

TDRS-8

Boeing announces performance shortfall on Multiple-Access phased array antenna

Jul 2001

Echostar V

Loss of one momentum wheel, short interruption of service

28 Jul 2001 SOHO Emergency Sun Reacquisition mode - back to normal on 30 Jul

11 Jun 2001

Ekspress 1

Loss of attitude control, undisclosed reason. Spacecraft lost

Apr 2001

GSAT

Satellite runs out of fuel after unexpected contingeny

Apr 2001

Echostar VI

Series of anomalous events resulting in a temporary interruption of service

22 Apr 2001

Telstar 6

SCP failure

21 Apr 2001

Galaxy IIIR

SCP failure

Mar 2001

Sirius

'Minor problem' with solar arrays

mid-Jan 2001

STRV 1c, 1d

Both spacecraft total loss caused by the same design flaw

19 Jan 2001

SO-35

Contact lost, possible collision with external object

15 Jan 2001

Ekran 20

One of two transponders lost

13 Jan 2001

ERS 2

Last of six gyroscopes fails


Date

Satellite

Event

Dec 2000

AO-40

Motor failure caused serious damage during orbit-raising

22 Nov 2000

Galaxy VII

Secondary SCP fails; total loss

4 Nov 2000

Insat 2B

Loss of attitude control twice for unknown reasons

31 Oct 2000

Echostar IV

Number of lost transponders has reached 26 out of 44

26 Oct 2000

Terra

Telemetry Monitor 16 turned off Science Formatting Equipment, reason unknown

Sep 2000

Stardust

A camera aboard the probe is covered with a mysterious substance; problem is later resolved by using heaters

28 Sep 2000

Galaxy VIII-i

Loss of xenon ion propulsion systems. Life span reduced by 10 years

12 Sep 2000

Garuda 1

IOT: Antenna-related anomaly discovered by manufacturer Lockheed Martin

27 Aug 2000

Solidaridad 1

Failure of backup SCP. Declared total loss

15 Jul 2000

ASCA (Astro-D)

Satellite started spinning during high solar activity. Safe mode. Declared total loss later

28 Apr 2000

Türksat 1C

Temporary loss of service for 55 minutes (safe mode, caused by electrostatic discharge in orbit)

31 Mar 2000

Echostar IV

Number of lost transponders (22) has reached 50% of total (44)

21 Mar 2000

Hotbird 2

Temporary loss of service for 9 hours

10 Mar 2000

ERS 1

Failure of attitude control system, total loss

3 Mar 2000

Satmex 5

84-minute outage; safehold mode triggered by faulty ground control software


Date

Satellite

Event

6 Dec 1999

(Compton) GRO

Gyroscope failure; spacecraft later de-orbited for safety reasons

28 Nov 1999 SOHO Emergency Sun Reacquisition (ESR) mode - back to normal on 10 Dec

10 Sep 1999

PAS-8

Temporary loss of service for 3.5 hours

Aug 1999

Telkom-1

IOT: Degradation of south solar array motors

Jul 1999

Echostar IV

Additional fuel system anomalies confirmed

30 Jul 1999

Anik E2

Temporary outage

May 1999

Nahuel 1

15-hour outage for unknown reasons

May 1999

Echostar IV

Anomalies affecting transponders, heating systems and fuel system confirmed

26 Apr 1999

Solidaridad 1

Temporary loss of service, primary SCP failure

30 Mar 1999

Eutelsat II-F4

Enters sun mode, one-hour outage

11 Mar 1999 GE-3 6 hour outage because of gyro failure
12 Feb 1999 ROSAT Switched off after earlier failures


Date

Satellite

Event

21 Dec 1998

SOHO

Safe mode owing to loss of gyro

15 Dec 1998

HGS-1

Partial loss of ability to recharge batteries, battery cell failure

21 Dec 1998

SOHO

Safe mode, probably owing to loss of gyro

Dec 1998

PAS-8

Two of three Ku-band antennas did not align properly

Dec 1998

TOMS

Single Event Upset disrupts spacecraft's computer operations, putting it into safehold mode

21 Nov 1998

Palapa C1

Partial loss of ability to recharge batteries, battery cell failure

4 Nov 1998

PAS 8

IOT: Antennas reversed, patterns off markets

30 Oct 1998

Afristar

IOT: North PIU causes RF power reduction

27 Oct 1998

GOES 8

Temporary loss of attitude control owing to Earth sensor anomaly

1 Sep 1998

Sirius 2

Loss of some solar cells

Autumn 1998

PAS 4

SCP failure

Autumn 1998

Galaxy VIII-i

Partial loss of ability to recharge batteries

Jul 1998

Kosmos 2350

Seal failure in instrument compartment, total loss

28 Jul 1998

GOES 9

Stopped sending space weather data; satellite replaced by GOES-10

mid-Jul 1998

Echostar IV

Loss of two transponders confirmed (open circuits)

7 Jul 1998

GOES 9

Overheated momentum wheel

4 Jul 1998

DBS-1

Failure of primary satellite control processor

Jun 1998 (?)

Echostar III

Overheated electric power converters; several transponders lost

Jun 1998 (?)

PAS-5

Partial loss of ability to recharge batteries

24 Jun 1998

SOHO

Contact lost following a combination of ground control errors

13 Jun 1998

Galaxy VII

Temporary shutdown of some C-band capacity, failure of primary satellite control processor

19 May 1998

Galaxy IV

Failure of primary and spare satellite control processor; total loss

19 May 1998

Echostar IV

One of two solar panels did not deploy

Apr 1998

Cakrawarta 1

Failure of power regulator, loss of 20% energy during eclipses

17 Mar 1998

Kupon

Loss of control; total loss

Feb 1998

Galaxy VIII-i

Battery cell failure, partial loss of eclipse protection


Date

Satellite

Event

18 Nov 1997

Kupon

IOT: Faulty sensor causes mispointing of array

Nov 1997

Tempo 2

Satellite suffered three outages since launch in Mar 1997

4 Oct 1997

Insat 2D

Short circuit, loss of power, total loss

Sep 1997

Kosmos 2344

Total loss after four months in orbit

30 Aug 1997

PAS 6

Circuit failures in solar arrays, DC power loss

30 June 1997

Midori [I]

Total loss (breakdown of a soldered part at the base of the satellite's solar cell paddle)

30 May 1997

Thor 2

IOT: Minor malfunction in antenna polarisation

30 Apr 1997

BSat 1A

IOT: Loss of one transponder (TWTA and spare)

11 Apr 1997

Tempo 2

Solar flare zapped three transponders, DC power loss

Apr 1997

JCSat 4

Switch matrix connectivity loss

18 Mar 1997

Intelsat 801

IOT: Faulty ground command causes bent solar array

11 Jan 1997

Telstar 401

Electrostatic discharge; total loss


Date

Satellite

Event

Aug 1996 MSAT 2 Two SSPAs, one L-band receiver have failed

24 Jul 1996

Cerise

Hit by space debris (a fragment of Ariane V16)

26 Mar 1996

Anik E1

South solar panel failed

13 Feb 1996

Palapa C1

IOT: Battery charger partial failure


Date

Satellite

Event

Nov 1995

DFS 3 FM 1

Complete breakdown, total loss after brief recovery

May 1995 MSAT 2 IOT: comms payload damaged by overheating

14 Feb 1995

GOES 8

Disturbance of attitude control system


Date

Satellite

Event

9 Sep 1994

Telstar 402

Satellite explodes after pressurisation of its propulsion system

20 Jan 1994 Intelsat K Brief loss of control in magnetic storm

20 Jan 1994

Anik E2

Loss of control in magnetic storm. Partial loss

20 Jan 1994

Anik E1

Loss of control in magnetic storm for seven hours


Date

Satellite

Event

1993

Olympus

Hit by Perseids meteor shower; total loss

Additions or corrections