Somebody Moved UK's Oldest Satellite, No-One Knows Who or Why

The UK's oldest satellite, Skynet-1A, mysteriously shifted from its original orbit above East Africa to a new position over the Americas, likely due to a mid-1970s command whose origins remain unknown. 'The question is who that was and with what authority and purpose?' asks the BBC. From the report: 'It's still relevant because whoever did move Skynet-1A did us few favours,' says space consultant Dr Stuart Eves. '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,' he explains.

Dr Eves has looked through old satellite catalogues, the National Archives and spoken to satellite experts worldwide, but he can find no clues to the end-of-life behaviour of Britain's oldest spacecraft. It might be tempting to reach for a conspiracy theory or two, not least because it's hard to hear the name 'Skynet' without thinking of the malevolent, self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) system in The Terminator movie franchise. But there's no connection other than the name and, in any case, real life is always more prosaic.

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