Satellite firm SES, whose website claims it provides “reliable and secure satellite and ground communications solutions”, lost control of its AMC-9 satellite on June 17 following a “significant anomaly.”

AMC-9, a communication satellite launched in 2003 onboard a Russian Proton rocket, had been nearing the end of its 15-year lifespan prior to this incident. However, the machine and its flailing parts could now become another in the ever-growing swarm of space debris in geostationary orbit.