Scientists are urgently seeking answers after discovering that the UK’s oldest satellite, Skynet-1A, has unexpectedly shifted to a position halfway around the globe.
Launched in 1969, Skynet-1A was stationed for decades over the east coast of Africa to support British military communications.
However, the satellite is now located over the Americas, approximately 22,369 miles from Earth—a move it could not have achieved through drifting alone.
Speculation suggests that Skynet-1A may have been directed to fire its thrusters in the 1970s, shifting its orbit westward, though records of who authorized this maneuver have since vanished.
The satellite was originally built in the United States by the now-defunct Philco Ford aerospace company and was launched into space aboard a US Air Force Delta rocket.
Graham Davison, who managed Skynet-1A from its British control center at RAF Oakhanger in Hampshire during the early 1970s, noted, “The Americans originally controlled the satellite in orbit.
They tested all of our software against theirs before eventually handing over control to the RAF.
Essentially, there was dual control, but when or why Skynet-1A might have been handed back to the Americans—I’m afraid I can’t remember.”
Rachel Hill, a PhD researcher from University College London, offered further insight, explaining, “A Skynet team from Oakhanger would travel to the USAF satellite facility in Sunnyvale—commonly called the Blue Cube—to operate Skynet during ‘Oakout.’
This was when control temporarily transferred to the US while Oakhanger underwent maintenance. Perhaps the satellite’s move occurred during one of these transitions.”
Official records indicate that Skynet-1A’s final command might indeed have remained with the United States after RAF Oakhanger lost contact with it in June 1977.
Moriba Jah, an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, warned that Skynet-1A’s current location presents a potential risk. “Pieces of space junk are like ticking time bombs,” he stated.
“We need to avoid what I call super-spreader events. When these objects explode or collide, they create thousands of debris pieces that then threaten other valuable assets in space.”
The UK’s Ministry of Defence assures that the satellite is under continuous observation by the National Space Operations Centre, though it may need to take action to reposition Skynet-1A if necessary.
