The spacecraft will violently re-enter the atmosphere before impacting the Earth’s surface, but officials insist the risks involved are “very low.”
Today, almost 30 years after its launch, an uncontrolled satellite is expected to burst through Earth’s atmosphere.
The satellite, known as ERS-2, is expected to shatter into pieces upon re-entry, with much of it burning up.
The European Space Agency (ESA) said re-entry is “natural” and therefore not under human control, so it is impossible to predict exactly when and where it will occur.
But as time approaches, authorities will be able to say more precisely what will happen.
The agency released its latest forecast Tuesday, predicting the satellite will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at 4:32 p.m. Wednesday.
Unpredictable solar activity leaves room for uncertainty, and reentry could occur up to four and a half hours before or after the predicted time.
Photos of a satellite falling toward the atmosphere were released by ESA on Monday.
The images were taken between January 14 and February 3, when ERS-2 was still at an altitude of more than 300 km (186 miles).
It has been descending more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) per day, and the rate of descent is rapidly increasing.
At about 80km it starts to break down and burn out.
Some debris may reach Earth, but will most likely fall into the ocean, ESA said.
ESA’s information on ERS-2’s re-entry says that “the risks associated with satellite re-entry are very low.”
The debris does not contain any toxic or radioactive materials.
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ERS-2 was launched in 1995 and was Europe’s most sophisticated Earth observation probe at the time.
ESA Heritage Space Program Director Mirko Albani said: “This research provides new insights into the chemistry of the Earth, the atmosphere, the behavior of the oceans and the impact of human activities on the environment.”
After 16 years in orbit, ESA decided to end its mission and “deorbit” the satellite.
This involved using up remaining fuel and decreasing altitude from 785 km (488 miles) to 573 km (356 miles).
This reduces the chance of colliding with anything else in space and shortens the orbital stay after the mission from more than 100 years to less than 15 years.
