Request for Special Temporary Authority to Execute Controlled Re-Entry of AMC-14

I guess because they're one of the parties involved:

"After consultations, EchoStar, Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of AMC-14, and SES Americom, the owner of the spacecraft (collectively, the “Parties”) have concluded that repositioning AMC-14 into its original planned orbit is not commercially or economically sensible and have settled on the optimum approach to retire the satellite."
 
Part of me wonders if this is a publicity stunt. We could fix and place it into orbit except for this patent legality. And of all days they file this document to rain pieces of space junk into the ocean on Earth Day.
 
Part of me wonders if this is a publicity stunt. We could fix and place it into orbit except for this patent legality. And of all days they file this document to rain pieces of space junk into the ocean on Earth Day.
It's not coming down today. It's a request for a 30 day permit.
 
"Retirement of the satellite will involve a controlled atmospheric re-entry of the satellite in
an unpopulated area of the South Pacific. The de-orbit will be performed by a single re-entry
maneuver that will cause the satellite to leave its current orbit and enter a direct re-entry
trajectory. This re-entry maneuver might be preceded by a phasing maneuver whose purpose is to target a given impact zone."

Maybe the professor will be able to fix the transmitter with what's left after re-entry.

RussellJohnson.jpg
 
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... We could fix and place it into orbit except for this patent legality. ....

We don't know this. In fact, the document itself says otherwise. That patent stuff was speculation. And remember, the Russians said right off that it was a total failure and could not be put into the correct orbit.
 
Echostar probably filed since it was a satellite for their slot and they were going to have command and control of it at 61.5.
 
IIRC, when the U.S. Navy shot down that bird a few months ago, they assured us that it was imperative that the bird HAD to be shot down. They said it was too dangerous to allow it to re-enter and burn up, because it still had a partial load of fuel. They claimed that it was necessary, and in no way was it being done to show off to the Chinese that we had the capability. I would think that if it was too dangerous to allow a bird with a partial load of fuel to de-orbit, that it would be WAY TOO dangerous to allow AMC-14, with it's full complement of fuel, to de-orbit. If the reasons they gave for shooting down the first bird were valid, then it's even more imperative that this bird be shot down as well... For God's sake, the safety of the people of earth is at stake! :D Unless of course, the Navy knows it got lucky on the first shot, and doesn't want to take a chance on missing with this one. :rolleyes::p:)
 
The reason that one was shot down was because it was a SPY Satellite and had highly classified spy technology on board.

To me that was the reason why they blew it up.

Now a communications satellite on the other hand, there is nothing top secret on it chances are it will burn up in reentry. If it don't then still no secrets gained by whoever finds what is left of it.
 

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