Salvaging Future Intelsat 29e’s

The “Total loss” of a satellite like Intelsat 29e, just 3 years into its 15-year life, has 2 significant implications: the sunk cost of the satellite, in addition to over 12 years of potential revenues and 6,552 kg of uncooperative debris roaming uncontrolled in geostationary orbit.

The Unintended Consequences of Smallsats

While the overall growth of the smallsat market is beneficial for the space economy as it is helping lower the barriers to entry and create new revenue streams in the (relatively) near term, the impact of this growth on the space ecosystem in the long term is less often discussed.