A communications satellite designed and built by embattled aerospace giant Boeing has broken up in orbit.
The satellite’s operator, Intelsat, has confirmed the “total loss” of iS-33e, which has affected customers in Europe, Africa and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
Intelsat also says it has taken steps to complete “a comprehensive analysis” of the incident.
Boeing has been facing crises on multiple fronts, with a strike at its commercial plane business and issues with its Starliner spacecraft.
An alert on the platform said the US Space Forces also said it is “currently tracking around 20 associated pieces” of the satellite.
"On Saturday an “anomaly” caused it to unexpectedly break apart, a statement from Intelsat said, bringing a halt to communications.
The Intelsat IS-33e satellite’s approximately 20 pieces of debris from the craft now in orbit is being tracked by the U.S. Space Force."
they don’t know and they’re trying to find out what happened