The US successfully saved a satellite of $ 1.7 billion

After 14 months of efforts, the United States successfully rescued the military communications satellite, which had fallen into an orbit and could explode.

For more than a year, the American AEHF-1 satellite must resist the gravity of the earth, and constantly crept away from the range of cosmic garbage. At the same time, US air force experts attempted to raise the satellite by about 34,000km.

Silly mistake

AEHF-1 was the first AEHF satellite, abbreviated from Advanced Extremely High Frequency, worth US $ 14 billion, put into orbit. The program aims to enhance communication and avoid traffic congestion, according to the March 20 AP. Therefore, losing AEHF-1 not only caused great losses but also humiliated the Pentagon. The consequence will be a postponed plan to replace US satellites, forcing the military to continue to rely on the old Milstar system, which began to be used since 1994.

The AEHF program was overspending 250 million USD and 2 years later than the plan when AEHF-1 satellite came from Cape Canaveral, Florida in August 2010. As planned, the Atlas V rocket brought AEHF-1 to orbit. The problem occurred later when the two-time control station for AEHF-1 moved to a circular orbit more than 35,000 kilometers from the earth. Both engine activation failed because the satellite automatically turned off when it detects an error, which, according to the survey, was due to a technician neglecting a piece of fabric in the fuel compartment. So America's $ 1.7 billion satellite stays suspended in orbit. What's worse is that the fuel-containing parts are likely to catch fire and explode, AP quoted US air force officials as saying. For more than a year, US authorities have silently sought to rescue AEHF-1 and have just announced the case three days ago.

The Pentagon has been able to face the rescue mission of AEHF-1

Mission Impossible

My first reaction was: 'Come on! The mission failed , 'the Houston Chronicle quoted the managing director of Military Telecommunication Satellite System Manager Dave Madden at Los Angeles air base. Mr. Madden quickly gathered the best minds of the air force and the US space industry, including Lockheed Martin Group experts, to discuss. Experts warn of possible loss of satellites if they try to activate the engine again. They launched a rescue plan to use AEHF-1's two auxiliary propulsion systems, which were weaker than the main engine and were designed to adjust the direction, pushing the satellite over the 34,000km route to the expected height. .

Over the next 14 months, the expert team opened these two pushers hundreds of times and had to be careful every time to ensure that AEHF-1 did not hit hundreds of thousands of pieces of cosmic trash floating on trajectory. Many times they had to control the satellites from a piece of debris. Luckily, all satellites and satellites get their orbit in October 2011. The latest test results at the end of February show that satellites work well, said Lockheed Martin's AP. In a statement released earlier this week, the US Air Force confirmed that AEHF-1 still has enough fuel to complete its 14-year operation cycle.