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LiveScience
LiveScience
Ben Turner

Boeing-made satellite shatters in orbit, and nobody knows why

Intelsat 39 being launched from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in 2019.

Boeing's Intelsat 33e satellite — a large communications satellite — has mysteriously broken up in orbit, scattering at least 20 chunks of space junk across Earth's skies and affecting users across the globe.

Intelsat 33e satellite, which provided broadband communication to Europe, Africa and Asia from a geostationary orbit above the Indian Ocean, stopped working on Saturday (Oct. 19) due to an "anomaly" before its "total loss" was confirmed on Monday (Oct. 21), according to Intelsat, a satellite services provider that operates the satellite.

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