MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. The cause of the destruction of the European communications satellite Intelsat 33e was most likely an explosion of fuel components, a leading researcher of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS.
"The fact that it collapsed in this way is an unpleasant event. Most likely, the fuel exploded," Nathan Eismont said.
Intelsat 33e is based on a Boeing 702MP satellite platform equipped with two-component chemical engines. According to the scientist, they could have used an efficient but toxic fuel vapor of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. "The explosion in this case would have been quite powerful," he pointed out.
Eismont added that all the satellite fragments recorded so far have been catalogued and their trajectories can be predicted. "If your satellite, according to these predictions, can collide [with some of the debris], well, it is necessary to make an evasive maneuver," the scientist said. He noted that for geostationary satellites, emergency orbit corrections are an unusual but feasible endeavor.
Earlier on Tuesday, Roscosmos said it was tracking more than 80 fragments of the European telecommunications satellite Intelsat 33e. According to the Russian space agency, the satellite's destruction, which occurred on October 19, was the result of a "momentary and high-energy" accident, and that the moving debris posed a potential threat to all vehicles in geostationary orbit, including Russian ones.