Is G10R "sick"?
Galaxy 17 has arrived and is now stationary at 123 degrees West. I wonder if we will be able to tell when the switch from Galaxy 10R to Galaxy 17 occurs?
It seems odd to me to move G17 into G10R's slot to take over for it when G18 is scheduled for G10R replacement the same month.
Is G10R on life support or something, that it needed urgent decommissioning?
Or perhaps G17 will move to a nearby orbital slot once G18 is up and operational?
Or perhaps G18 has been re-targeted for another orbital slot?
Or might there be some utility in having two operational satellites in the same orbital slot, and G17 and G18 would work in tandem with non-overlapping transponders? (At least this makes some sense to me.
Just wondering if there are any good educated guesses as to why they'd use precious fuel for such a short-term mission.