Galileo satellite knocked offline

The BBC report that the Galileo demonstrator satellite Giove-B was hit by 'by a surge of space radiation'.

The incident forced the Giove-B satellite to adopt a "safe mode" for two weeks in which only essential power systems were kept running.

Giove-B, and its sister demonstrator Giove-A, are the first European missions to fly in the high-radiation environment of a medium-Earth orbit (MEO), at an altitude of 24,000km.

Giove-A, built by SSTL, was unaffected by the event.

BBC News - Galileo satellite knocked offline
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7646789.stm

Giove-A - First Galileo satellite in orbit to demonstrate key technologies
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2005/
galileo_on_orbit.htm