A solar eclipse that occurred around midnight March 30 interfered with Sky's digital satellite service in New Zealand.
The eclipse blocked sunlight to the solar cells on the Optus B1 satellite requiring the cells to be recharged again after the eclipse. This took place before the process of realigning the signal with the earth could continue. The satellite signal was lost after a routine positioning procedure to the satellite by Optus.
SKY and Optus immediately put into operation their signal recovery plans. Updates were posted at www.skytv.co.nz or www.skybusiness.co.nz.
