Sky TV turns to 14 year-old Korean satellite to keep service on air

Tuesday, 11 February 2025

Sky Television plans to use a Korean satellite that was originally expected to fail from around the end of this year to keep its satellite-television service on air for the next few years.

The pay-TV firm was forced to agree a stop-gap solution with satellite service provider Optus last year after the Optus D2 satellite from which it currently broadcasts began to run out of the fuel needed to keep it in a stable orbit.

Sky had planned to move straight from D2 a new satellite, satellite Optus 11, but Optus has delayed its launch until at least 2027, creating the need for a stop-gap solution.

D2 has already needed to be moved into a wobbly orbit to conserve its remaining fuel, with the consequence that about 20,000 Sky TV viewers — about 5% of its satellite customer base — have been experiencing intermittent signal loss.

It is understood that KoreaSat 6 has now been successfully moved to a slot very close to that occupied by D2, 160 degrees east of the meridian.

KoreaSat 6 was launched in December 2010 with an expected minimum life of 15 years and will have needed to use some of its fuel to move to its new orbit.

However, Sky has made clear it nevertheless expects the Korean satellite to see it through until Opus 11’s launch.

It is common for satellites’ operating lives to exceed their original specifications if the amount of fuel they need to expend to maintain their orbit proves to be less than expected, and this is understood to be the case with KoreaSat 6.

Up until a few months ago, KoreaSat 6 had been providing broadcast and telecommunications services in South Korea.

Sky TV hopes to switch to broadcasting from the satellite in early April, about a month before Optus plans to use the last of D2’s fuel to move it into a graveyard orbit for dead satellites deeper in space.

However, Sky has warned there remain “inherent technology and logistical risks to the successful migration” some of which it says are outside its control.

A Sky spokesperson admitted that D2’s orbit was continuing to deteriorate.

But she said an interim measure that has seen Sky tweak its set-top boxes so they are more tolerant of degraded signals from the satellite had gone well and meant it was “no longer seeing an increase in customers reporting signal issues”.

“Pleasingly the technical changes of the last weeks have further stabilised signals for more customers, making a positive difference,” she said.

Customers impacted by the signal losses have been venting their frustration to the media and on social media, with many complaining technicians have repeatedly cancelled visits and demanding extra compensation.

The threats to Sky’s satellite service come at an inopportune time for the company, as it seeks to nail down a new multi-year broadcasting-rights contract with the Rugby Union at what is expected to be a much reduced price.