‘This is rocket science’: micrometeorite collision blamed for NBN satellite internet outage

File photo of an NBN satellite. The company says the likely cause of a seven-hour outage in December is a micrometeorite slamming into a satellite. Photograph: NBN Co/AAP

A micrometeorite slamming into a satellite was the likely cause of a seven-hour outage for NBN Co internet users in December, a Senate hearing has been told.

About 46,500 of NBN Co’s 112,000 satellite users in regional and remote parts of Australia were left without internet between 8.30pm on 21 December and 3.20am the following morning due to the incident.