1A: Why did the UK’s first satellite end up thousands of miles from where it should have been?

What caused the first satellite in the UK to land thousands of miles away from its intended location?

Four hours ago.

Amos Jonathan.

@BBCAmos is a science correspondent.

The UK’s oldest satellite was moved, but it doesn’t seem like anyone knows exactly who did it, when they did it, or why.

In 1969, only a few months after the first human landing on the moon, Skynet-1A was launched to relay communications for British forces high above the east coast of Africa.

It may have been anticipated that gravity would have drawn the spacecraft even farther east, out over the Indian Ocean, when it stopped operating a few years later.

However, it’s interesting to note that Skynet-1A is currently 22,369 miles (36,000 km) above the Americas, which is actually half our planet.

The half-ton military spacecraft probably didn’t just drift to its current position due to orbital mechanics.

In the middle of the 1970s, it was most likely ordered to fire its thrusters in order to move west. Who that person was, and what was their authority and goal, is the question.

The fact that important details about a once-essential national security asset can simply vanish is fascinating. However, putting fascination aside, it’s also reasonable to wonder why it matters. We are, after all, discussing some space debris that was discarded fifty years ago.

“It’s still relevant because whoever moved Skynet-1A did us few favors,” Dr. Stuart Eves, a space consultant, says.

At 105 degrees West longitude, it is currently in what is known as a “gravity well,” moving back and forth like a marble at the bottom of a bowl. And regrettably, this frequently puts it in close proximity to other satellite traffic.

He says, “Because it’s dead, there’s a chance it could collide with something, and since it’s ‘our’ satellite, we’re still accountable for it.”.

Despite consulting with satellite experts around the world, the National Archives, and old satellite catalogs, Dr. Eves has been unable to uncover any information regarding the final stages of the life of Britain’s oldest spacecraft.

Because the name “Skynet” conjures up images of the evil, self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) system from the Terminator film series, it may be easy to reach for a conspiracy theory or two.

However, the name is the only connection, and real life is always more mundane.

The US-based, now-defunct Philco Ford aerospace company produced Skynet-1A, which was launched into space by a US Air Force Delta rocket.

London was able to securely communicate with British forces as far away as Singapore thanks to the first Skynet satellite, which completely changed the UK’s telecommunications capabilities. In a recent paper on the history of the Skynet program, which is currently in its fifth generation, Dr. Aaron Bateman stated that, from a technological perspective, Skynet-1A was more American than British because the United States both built and launched it.

Graham Davison, who piloted Skynet-1A from its UK operations center at RAF Oakhanger in Hampshire in the early 1970s, attests to this opinion.

“The satellite was initially in orbit under American control. The long-retired engineer informed me that they first compared all of our software to theirs before ultimately giving the RAF command.

“There was dual control, basically,” Mr. Davison, now in his 80s, says, “but I’m afraid I can’t remember when or why Skynet-1A might have been handed back to the Americans, which seems likely.”.

Rachel Hill, a University College London PhD candidate, has also been searching the National Archives.

Based on her readings, she has come to one very plausible conclusion.

“An Oakhanger Skynet team would travel to the USAF satellite facility in Sunnyvale, also referred to as the Blue Cube, and run Skynet during ‘Oakout.'”. During this time, Oakhanger was out of commission for necessary maintenance, and temporary control was given to the US. Ms. Hill pondered, “Perhaps the move could have occurred then.”.

Official, albeit partial, logs of Skynet-1A’s status indicate that when Oakhanger lost sight of the satellite in June 1977, final commanding was left to the Americans.

Nevertheless, Skynet-1A was eventually permitted to die in an unfavorable location when it should have been placed in an “orbital graveyard” after being moved to its current location.

This is referring to an area even higher in the sky where there is no chance of old space debris colliding with operational telecommunications satellites.

Although graveyarding has become commonplace, nobody gave space sustainability much thought in the 1970s.

Since then, attitudes have evolved due to the growing congestion in the space domain.

An active satellite at 105 degrees West longitude may see a piece of junk pass within 50 kilometers of its position as often as four times per day.

Although they may appear to be far apart, given the speeds at which these abandoned objects travel, they are beginning to approach each other too closely.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the National Space Operations Centre of the United Kingdom continuously monitors Skynet-1A. If a particularly close conjunction is anticipated, other satellite operators are alerted in case they need to take evasive action.