Sun outage may disrupt satellite broadcasts for 8 days

The Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL) has warned that satellite-based broadcasts in the country may face disruptions for eight consecutive days starting September 29 due to sun outage. The announcement was made in a press release on Wednesday (September 17) by BSCL’s Public Relations Officer Omar Haider.

The release noted that sun outage is a common space phenomenon affecting geostationary satellites and occurs twice a year. It can temporarily disrupt satellite-dependent broadcasting services. For Bangladesh Satellite-1 (Bangabandhu-1), disruptions may occur daily from September 29 to October 6, lasting a few minutes each morning.

According to BSCL, the expected disruptions are as follows: September 29 from 9:35 a.m. to 9:38 a.m. (3 minutes); September 30 from 9:32 a.m. to 9:41 a.m. (9 minutes); October 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 9:42 a.m. (12 minutes); October 2 from 9:29 a.m. to 9:42 a.m. (13 minutes); October 3 from 9:29 a.m. to 9:42 a.m. (13 minutes); October 4 from 9:29 a.m. to 9:41 a.m. (12 minutes); October 5 from 9:29 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. (11 minutes); and October 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 9:38 a.m. (8 minutes).

BSCL added that it will carefully monitor the sun outage during this period. The company currently provides broadcasting and telecommunications services to various domestic and international organisations through Bangladesh’s first satellite, Bangladesh Satellite-1 (BS-1). Sun outage occurs when the Earth, Sun, and satellite align in a straight line, causing the Sun’s powerful radio signals to interfere with the satellite signal, temporarily disrupting services such as television or internet.