Battery charger failure caused weather satellite to rupture in space

Officials from the U.S. Air Force 50th Space Wing have completed their operations review of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Flight 13 that was permanently shut down Feb. 3, 2015, precipitating a debris-causing event. The review determined there were no actions that could have been taken to prevent the incident. The mission is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on behalf of the U.S. Air Force.

The review into the unexpected loss of this satellite determined a failure of the battery charger as the likely cause. Analysis indicates one of the wiring harnesses lost functionality due to compression over a long period of time in the battery charge assembly. Once the harness was compromised, the exposed wires potentially caused a short in the battery power, leading to an overcharge situation with eventual rupture of the batteries.

Currently, the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is tracking 147 pieces of debris from this incident ranging from baseball to basketball-sized objects, where the original satellite was about the size of a one-car garage. There are approximately 110 payloads in the same orbital regime as DMSP Flight 13. The JSpOC has had no reportable conjunctions between the DMSP Flight 13 debris and any of these objects.

"In accordance with our ongoing efforts to protect the space domain, the JSpOC will continue to monitor this debris along with all of the items in the space catalog in order to enhance the long-term sustainability, safety and security of the space environment," said Col. John Giles, JSpOC director.

DMSP Flight 13 was originally launched on March 24, 1995. Despite its original four-year design life, Flight 13 provided service for almost two decades and on Aug. 6, 2014 became the first operational DMSP satellite to reach 100,000 revolutions around the Earth.