When Satellites Go Bad

TIME Digital: Why space-based businesses keep failing, and why we keep launching more of them.

By Lev Grossman Friday, May 07, 1999
    • There's something irresistibly cool about satellites -- for infrastructure with serious mass appeal, you just can't beat space-based telecommunications. That may be one reason why the past year has seen billions of private and public dollars poured into building and launching satellites, alone and in massive coordinated networks, for both business and research purposes. The results? A terrible track record strewn with malfunctions, huge financial losses, and out-and-out fiery explosions. Why do satellites go wrong so often -- and why is Microsoft planning to launch 266 more of them? Wall Street, we have a problem. MORE >>