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01/30/2007: "That's Gonna Leave A Mark ..."

Building a satellite is a tricky deal. You spent years in design and assembly of an incredibly complex system, and then wrap it up and stick it on top of a rocket for launch - the worst possible place to put such a fragile package. But that's the only way to get it where it's gotta go, and you take the risk and pray for the best.

Most of the time, things go just fine. The satellite arrives on orbit, unfolds itself and starts its mission. Sometimes, though, it doesn't work out. Back when I first started in the satellite business, we launched a communications satellite using a Chinese Long March rocket. It made it up eleven miles before the launcher exploded, raining parts over the Chinese countryside. Hughes paid the locals for the parts so they could try and reconstruct the satellite - just to prove to the Chinese it wasn't our fault. I still have a wing hinge from that satellite on my desk - bent but functional.

One of the most successful launch systems in recent years has been the multi-national Sea Launch effort. Using ships based in Long Beach and a Russian Zenit-3SL launcher, many satellites have been successfully launched from the South Pacific near the equator. The last satellite I worked on in my factory days, Spaceway 1, was successfully launched by Sea Launch early last year. That was a good day.

Today, however, was not. Another of our satellites, New Skies 8, was onboard the Sea Launch Odyssey awaiting an opportunity for launch. This afternoon the launch was finally attempted, but it didn't get far. The booster seemed to rise slightly before dropping back onto the platform and exploding. The good news is that no one is on the launch platform during the liftoff, with all personnel evacuated to the control ship Sea Launch Commander. But there's not much left of New Skies 8.

Now starts the fact finding and finger pointing. Sea Launch cut off their broadcast seconds after the picture you see here and posted a cryptic message on their website:

A Sea launch Zenit-3SL vehicle, carrying the NSS-8 satellite, experienced an anomaly today during launch operations. All personnel at the launch site are safe and accounted for.

I suspect tomorrow will be an interesting day around the Satellite Factory ...