'Zombie' satellite prompts orbital waltz

A video on the BBC website shows the manoeuvres two satellites will have to perform in order to avoid a faulty satellite.

Control was lost of Intelsat's Galaxy-15 platform in April. It will not take commands from the ground and is in a drift towards neighbouring spacecraft. The nearest, AMC-11, will now be eased out of its path, and some of its TV channels moved to a partner platform. The pair's operator, SES World Skies, says customers should be unaffected.

The intricacy of the space choreography that is about to take place is thought to be unprecedented in the commercial telecommunications sector.

The video can be seen two thirds down the page at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/
10150614.stm