The Latest Boeing Disaster

This has not been a good year, or decade, for Boeing, has it? First the 737-MAX jets started crashing a couple of years ago. Then, earlier this year, the Starliner had issues, first with its launch and then, its failure to return with its assigned astronauts.

 

Now, its communications satellite, purchased from Boeing by Intelsat in 2015, which had served Europe, Africa and parts of Asia, exploded in space, spreading debris and junk all over the place. The “anomoly”, as it was described by Boeing and Intelsat engineers, began having “issues” on Saturday.

“The anomaly previously disclosed on October 19 has resulted in the total loss of the Intelsat 33e satellite,” the satellite-powered communications company Intelsat said in a statement. “We are coordinating with the satellite manufacturer, Boeing, and government agencies to analyze data and observations.”

But this was not the first Boeing-Intelsat issue. Intelsat lost another Boeing satellite, called IS-29e, in 2019, according to Space News and the New York Post. The cause of its destruction, just three years after its launch, was never fully determined, but was believed to have been the result of either a wiring issue or a meteorite collision.

And consider the contract the US and Boeing have maintained for over a half century. Primary to this is that the President of the United States had traveled in Air Force One since 1960. Made by Boeing. And during the Trump years, a newer version of that 747 jet was placed in service.

Are we certain it is safe?

Perhaps, a rethinking of our entire loyalties to the Boeing brand needs to be analyzed. It is a truly American company, which seems to have lost its credibility in many people’s opinions.

We cannot afford to stand by and allow another disaster to go unaddressed BEFORE it happens again.