AkaSci 🛰
️@AkaSci@fosstodon.org
SpainSat NG II satellite, owned by Hisdesat and launched on 23 October, 2025, was hit by a "space particle" during orbit raising.
The extent of the damage is unknown but the Jan 2 press release says that "If necessary, SpainSat NG II will be replaced as soon as possible."
The impact occurred at 50,000 km, not LEO. 50,000 km is odd since geostationary orbit altitude = 35,786 km (42,164 km from center of earth).
Space debris or space rock?
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social
https://www.indragroup.com/en/news/the-spainsat-ng-ii-satellite-suffers-an-external-impact-during-transfer-to-its-orbital-position
Prof. Sam Lawler@sundogplanets@mastodon.social
@AkaSci@fosstodon.org Orbital debris is very, very sparse at those altitudes. According to this paper (paywalled, but abstract is not) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027311772030644X: "Overall, orbital debris dominates the impact risk between altitudes of 600 and 1300 km, while meteoroids dominate below 270 km and above 4800 km"
But "space particle" is a weird way to say that!