Don't worry about giant asteroid, Sky TV says
First it had to worry about Netflix and rising programming costs. Now the pay TV broadcaster faces the possibility a giant space rock could knock out its satellite.
UPDATE: Asteroid 2013 TX68 passed safely by Earth without causing any problems.
EARLIER: Can Sky TV cut a break?
First the pay TV broadcaster faced new competition from Netflix and rising programming costs.
Now it faces the possibility a giant space rock could knock out its satellite transmission.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports An earth-bound asteroid, dubbed 2013 TX68 and said to weigh as much as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, could pass well within the ring of communications and GPS satellites that orbit more than 35,000 kilometres above the equator.
It quotes Swinburne University astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy, who warns"We know the asteroid will miss Earth - but it's possible that it may pass within the range of some orbiting satellites that make the satnav system on your phone possible."
In the firing line are several satellites owned by Opus, including Optus D1, the bird that hosts Sky TV and Freeview satellite broadcasts.
Sky TV comms director Kirsty Way says her company has received assurances everything will be okay. Optus says space is vast, and its satellites are small targets.
"And if we were unlucky enough for our satellite to be affected, because we receive live feeds into NZ via different satellites and undersea fibre we would have our incoming feeds re-routed," Ms Way says.
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Don't worry about giant asteroid, Sky TV says
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