LONDON — A TV satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the earth, threatening to wander into another satellite’s orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States, the satellites’ owners said yesterday.
Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on Wednesday, possibly because of a solar storm. Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite.
Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably overlap and interfere with signals from the second satellite, AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit, as expected, around May 23.
AMC 11 uses the same frequencies as Galaxy 15.
A spokesman for AMC 11 said one option to prevent interference would be using a propulsion system to shift that satellite.
