Sun Outage to Disrupt Bangladesh Satellite-1 Broadcasts in March
Temporary disruptions in broadcast services may occur daily from 7 March to 14 March due to a solar interference, commonly known as a sun outage, affecting Bangladesh’s only geostationary communication satellite, the ‘Bangladesh Satellite-1’. The information was disclosed recently in a press release issued by the Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL).
In the statement, BSCL explained that solar interference is a natural space phenomenon in the case of geostationary satellites, typically occurring twice a year. During this period, the Sun, the satellite, and the ground station align in a straight line. As a result, the Sun’s intense radiation interferes with the satellite signals, which may temporarily disrupt broadcast services.
According to the schedule published by BSCL, the most significant disruptions are expected on 10 and 11 March. On these two days, signal interruptions may last for up to 13 consecutive minutes. The detailed schedule is as follows:
7 March: From 9:54am to 10:01am (7 minutes).
8 March: From 9:52am to 10:02am (10 minutes).
9 March: From 9:51am to 10:03am (12 minutes).
10 and 11 March: From 9:50am to 10:03am (13 minutes).
12 March: From 9:50am to 10:02am (12 minutes).
13 March: From 9:51am to 10:01am (10 minutes).
14 March: From 9:53am to 9:58am (5 minutes).
The BSCL authorities further stated that the entire process will be closely monitored during the occurrence of this natural phenomenon. BSCL has expressed regret for the temporary inconvenience caused to all concerned.
DBTech/NHT/EK/OR
