Zombie Satellite Awakens: Defunct 1960s NASA Orbiter Blasts Earth with Mysterious Radio Pulse
On June 13, 2024, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder detected a 30-nanosecond radio burst peaking over 300,000 Jy from the vicinity of NASA’s defunct Relay 2 satellite. The signal matched Relay 2’s predicted orbit at about 20,000 km altitude. Relay 2, silent since 1967, was launched in 1964 to relay television and study radiation belts. Scientists suspect an electrostatic discharge or micrometeoroid impact caused the burst.
