Malaysia's MEASAT-3 Satellite Drifts Out of Orbit, Deactivates Transponders; Is It Lost Forever?

MEASAT-3 has been experiencing problems for about a month, and it looks like MEASAT is still working to restore service to the aged satellite. According to MEASAT Global Berhad, Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) is still conducting an in-depth assessment to discover the root cause of the issue.

MEASAT said all of its client services on MEASAT-3 had been restored onto backup satellite capacity on other MEASAT and third-party satellites covering the region to guarantee that services are not disrupted. MEASAT-3, MEASAT-3a, and MEASAT-3b are the three satellites that have been placed on the 91.5 degrees east orbital slot by the satellite operator.

To avoid interference with other satellites, all MEASAT-3 transponders were disabled when services were migrated to other spacecraft. MEASAT has contacted the Combined Space Operations Centre (CSpOC) via Space-Follow to track the MEASAT-3 satellite. SatNews said MEASAT and BSS would undertake a complete investigation. MEASAT-3 was launched in 2006 on a Boeing BSS-601 satellite.

(Photo: Airbus Defence and Space)
Airbus Defence and Space is building Measat-3d to replace Measat-3, which was nearing the end of its operational life before running into issues.

MEASAT-3 Drifting Out of Orbit For a Month

According to SpaceNews, the satellite has been drifting westward in geostationary orbit for about a month, according to space surveillance company ExoAnalytic Solutions. Bill Therien, EVP of engineering at ExoAnalytic Solutions, told SpaceNews that it's unusual to see one recover from this level.

MEASAT-3 is currently at longitude 84.52 degrees, which is 7 degrees west of its original position, according to satellite tracking website N2YO.

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Last month, the MCMC disclosed per Soyasincau that the MEASAT-3 problem was caused by a thruster failure caused by a position issue. Backup thrusters were reportedly utilized in an attempt to restore the satellite's services. Astro's Direct-to-Home TV service, video broadband distribution, mobile, and VSAT services were all affected by the outage.

Astro had lately begun to offer IPTV streaming to its existing Astro customers in order to alleviate viewing issues. When the satellite service is disrupted, the Astro Ultra Box subscribers can switch to IP streaming, which needs fiber broadband connectivity. Ulti Box users will soon be able to use the IP streaming feature.

Astro will also debut its Astro Ultra Plug & PlayBox, allowing people to subscribe to Astro without installing a satellite dish. All you'll need is at least 30Mbps of fiber broadband internet.

MEASAT-3d was announced in 2019, Airbus said. It was supposed to debut this year to replace MEASAT-3 and MEASAT-3a, but it was postponed until 2022, Astoawani mentioned. MEASAT-3d will be launched in the 91.5 degrees East orbital slot, using an Airbus Eurostar E3000 satellite. The new satellite will provide up to 100Mbps satellite broadband access and 4K and 8K video content distribution.