The UK’s oldest satellite has been moved into outer space, but nobody knows who moved it or how.
Launched in 1969, just a few months after humans first set foot on the Moon, Skynet-1A was put high above Africa’s east coast to relay communications for British forces.
The spacecraft stopped working years ago, and conventional wisdom would suggest that the Earth’s gravitational pull would move it eastwards over the Indian Ocean, but the opposite has happened.
The satellite is now halfway around the world above the Americas, baffling scientists who insist that orbital mechanics mean it is unlikely that the half-tonne spacecraft would have simply drifted to its current position.
This leads to the conclusion that it was intentionally moved, but nobody can say who would want or be able to do such a thing.
Space consultant Dr Stuart Eves told the BBC: “It’s still relevant because whoever did move Skynet-1A did us few favours.
“It’s now in what we call a ‘gravity well’ at 105 degrees West longitude, wandering backwards and forwards like a marble at the bottom of a bowl. And unfortunately this brings it close to other satellite traffic on a regular basis.
“Because it’s dead, the risk is it might bump into something, and because it’s ‘our’ satellite, we’re still responsible for it.
So, what do we know about the satellite?
Firstly, we know it was US-made and put in space by a US Air Force Delta rocket.
We also know that thanks to veterans of the programme that put it in space, the satellite revolutionised UK telecommunications capacity and allowed London to communicate securely with British forces, such as Singapore.
Rachel Hill, a PhD student from University College London, has reviewed documents and believes that plausible explanations exist for how the satellite has arrived at its present location.
She said: “A Skynet team from Oakhanger would go to the USAF satellite facility in Sunnyvale (colloquially known as the Blue Cube) and operate Skynet during ‘Oakout’. This was when control was temporarily transferred to the US while Oakhanger was down for essential maintenance. Perhaps the move could have happened then?”
Ultimately, we will likely never know, as the redundant satellite makes up just one of the thousands of pieces of space junk currently orbiting the Earth.