Press release from ViaSat: <10% of planned throughput; no replacement satellite.
ViaSat-3 F1 Update -- In connection with the ongoing root cause analysis, Viasat has determined that while the satellite payload is functional, it expects to recover less than 10% of the planned throughput on ViaSat-3 F1. With the flexibility and agility of its integrated satellite fleet, the limited ViaSat-3 F1 capacity, the addition of the next two ViaSat-3 generation satellites, ground network mitigations, and third-party bandwidth commitments, the Company remains confident that it will meet the current and future needs of its mobility customers and is well-positioned to achieve its financial growth objectives. Viasat also confirmed that it has insurance coverage of $420 million in place for ViaSat-3 F1 and will finalize its claim before the end of the year. The Company will not require a replacement satellite for ViaSat-3 F1.
https://news.viasat.com/newsroom/press-releases/viasat-provides-an-interim-update-on-vs-3-f1-satellite-status-and-anticipates-positive-free-cash-flow-earlier-than-planned
[Oct 12]
Maybe they tested the beam at 170°W, in the middle of nowhere, where it won't bother anyone.
I thought the shortness of time was a good sign, obviously it wasn't.
Now Viasat 3 F1 is quickly running back towards the east. 2.6 deg per day, at 158° W currently.
Why? What can Viasat do with it?
In addition to the completely dead Inmarsat 6 F2, this is a major loss. Insurance premiums will rise.
Satellite visual flare report from SeeSat-l veteran content contributor Kevin Fetter
here.
Satellite 🛰 visual magnitude +8 to +9 at the time of observation.
So the reflector must have deployed somewhat.
Satellite visual flare report from SeeSat-l veteran content contributor Kevin Fetter here.
Satellite 🛰 visual magnitude +8 to +9 at the time of observation.
So the reflector must have deployed somewhat.
Maybe, maybe not
Flares come from flat surfaces
The reflector design is neither flat not optically (specularly) reflective, and it is not fully deployed anyways.
A more likely source could be imperfectly pointed solar panels.
My trained observer friend has looked for and seen visible (mag<6) flares from functioning geostationary comm sats just before and after eclipses near the equinoxes, where the plane of the Equator crosses the center of the Sun.
Without the high power transmitters working, there is no need to maximize the solar array pointing or spacecraft orientation with precise control.
Or the solar panels are sufficiently non-planar that mag 8 flares can be seen near solar midnight.
SAT-MOD-20240103-00004Astranis wants to drift its Arcturus satellite from 163º W.L. to 78° E.L. (over the Indian Ocean). Footprints of the beams attached. Covering mostly the Mediterranean Sea. The satellite was originally intended to provide broadband service in Alaska.
Arcturus experienced an anomaly with its vendor-supplied solar array drive assemblies. The Arcturus
spacecraft is in a safe state and fully under Astranis’s control.
However, this anomaly results in an inability to provide continuous service at this location as the
company had intended. No customers are currently being served at the 163°W.L. orbital location.
Astranis believes that it will be able to better utilize the reduced capabilities of Arcturus
at another orbital location. Accordingly, the company is submitting this application to relocate
the satellite.
Due to the increased skew from the orbital position to the service area at the new orbital location,
only the three eastern-most user beams would be used at this new location.
SAT-MOD-20240103-00004
Astranis wants to drift its Arcturus satellite from 163º W.L. to 78° E.L. (over the Indian Ocean). Footprints of the beams attached. Covering mostly the Mediterranean Sea. The satellite was originally intended to provide broadband service in Alaska.
Arcturus experienced an anomaly with its vendor-supplied solar array drive assemblies. The Arcturus
spacecraft is in a safe state and fully under Astranis’s control.
However, this anomaly results in an inability to provide continuous service at this location as the
company had intended. No customers are currently being served at the 163°W.L. orbital location.
Astranis believes that it will be able to better utilize the reduced capabilities of Arcturus
at another orbital location. Accordingly, the company is submitting this application to relocate
the satellite.
Due to the increased skew from the orbital position to the service area at the new orbital location,
only the three eastern-most user beams would be used at this new location.
Arcturus will temporarily bring-in-use (BIU) some spectrum for Spacecom:
[...]
As some satellite watchers have already noticed, Arcturus is speeding west at a rate of approximately 3 degrees per day and is currently somewhere over Indonesian Borneo. It is moving towards a new orbital position, and will settle into its new (temporary) home in mid-March.
Our first global customer for Arcturus is Spacecom, a well-known satellite operator based in Israel that provides satellite TV and broadband connectivity in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Spacecom has contracted the satellite for a multimonth mission to secure valuable spectrum rights — this is known in the industry as a “bring into use” mission. Spacecom has plans to place a larger GEO satellite at one of their orbital slots at a future date, and needed our help to make sure the slot was secured.
[...]
https://twitter.com/Gedmark/status/1762510712679899223