DURBANS (46) 30.08.2019

While on vacation near Durbans (46), a witness spent several nights observing the sky with 5 other amateur astronomers. On successive evenings they noticed an object of variable brightness passing through the same constellations. Only 1 account was collected. As the observers suggested, GEIPAN identifies an uncontrolled satellite: Telkom 3, with a reference to Gunter's Space Page. The source explains that this Indonesian telecommunications satellite was launched in 2012 into the wrong orbit after a Proton launcher failure. Instead of its intended geostationary orbit, it occupied an elliptical orbit with a low perigee of 250 km and inclination 50°. Without stabilization it was probably tumbling, producing the reported brightness variations. The attached verification confirms west-southwest movement from Boötes toward south-southeast in Aquila at an elevation near 50°. On 31 August, relative to the preceding observation associated with the 30 August 2019 case date, the passage was about 5 minutes earlier and 5° lower. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of a satellite.