‘Space particle’ slams into Spain’s new communications satellite high above Earth
Spain's latest military communications satellite suffered a debris impact while headed to its orbital destination. The extent of the damage is still unknown.
Artist's illustration of two SpainSat NG satellites in space. (Image credit: Airbus)
The fate of Spain's newest communications satellite is up in the air.
SpainSat NG-2 was the second military communications satellite launched for Spain last year. It was on its way to an operational location in geostationary orbit when it was struck by a "space particle," according to a Jan. 2 statement from Indra Group, the majority stakeholder of Hisdesat, which owns and operates the SpainSat NG-2 satellite on behalf of Spain’s Ministry of Defense.
SpainSat NG-1 also launched on a Falcon 9, heading to orbit last January. The Airbus-built 2-billion-euro ($2.3 billion USD) pair of satellites was designed as an "advanced government communications system in Europe," according to Airbus. Since its launch in October, SpainSat NG-2 has been slowly making its way toward geostationary orbit, but its status since the collision remains unknown.
According to Indra Group, the space particle impact occurred at about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) in altitude. That's higher than geostationary orbit, which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 km) above Earth.
"Hisdesat implemented a contingency plan to ensure that the Ministry of Defense and other clients are not affected," Indra Group said in the statement.
"The technical team is analyzing the available data to determine the extent of the damage," the statement continued. "If necessary, SpainSat NG-2 will be replaced as soon as possible."
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Josh Dinner is the Staff Writer for Spaceflight at Space.com. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on Instagram and his website, and follow him on X, where he mostly posts in haiku.