 During final testing , engineers detected that the spacecraft 's X band ( NATO H / I / J bands ) communications antenna was transmitting only a tiny fraction of the power that it should . Thermal imaging showed that the waveguide to the antenna , deep inside the spacecraft , was very hot . Clearly that was where the missing power was being dissipated . The waveguide could not normally be inspected or repaired without major disassembly of the satellite , which would have required a return to the facilities in Europe and resulted in a major delay to the launch . To avoid doing this , a local surgeon was brought in to inspect the component with an endoscope . The surgeon , Tatiana <unk> , discovered that two pieces of ferrite were lodged in the tube , and was able to remove both of them . Engineers were able to assist the removal of the second one with a magnet . It was determined that the ferrite had come from an absorption load installed deep inside the antenna , which was intended to improve its performance . Some ferrite ( the remaining stump of this load ) was removed from inside the base of the antenna in order to prevent any further debris falling into the waveguide . 
