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Massive, out-of-control satellite to crash into Earth today

By - 22 Feb 2024 08:18 PM

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) ERS-2 satellite weighed 2.5 tonnes at launch and was cutting-edge technology when it launched in 1995. But now, the massive satellite is out of control and could hurtle into the planet’s atmosphere on Wednesday. ESA’s latest estimate suggests that ERS-2 will reenter the atmosphere at 9.19 PM on Wednesday, February 21. The risks of the satellite falling into populated areas is negligible but not non-existent. ERS-2 was the space agency’s second earth observation mission after ERS-1. It carried many payloads including a “Synthetic Aperture Radar” and a radar altimeter to study sea surface temperatures and winds. ERS-2 also had sensors for atmospheric ozone research.

In the year 2001, after several of its on-board gyro systems failed, a group of engineers from ESA and other industries invented a new way to fly and control the satellite systems. After that, the on-board data storage system of the satellite failed in 2003. This meant that the mission had to be redesigned as “real-time,” meaning that it only relayed science data directly at the time of capturing it.

These changes meant that the satellite could function well beyond its intended lifespan. After completing more than 82,000 orbits around the planet, the satellite’s mission ended on September 5, 2011. That is when they “passivated” the satellite, making sure that all its batteries and pressurised systems were emptied or made safe to avoid the chance of an explosion.

But before ESA switched off all systems on board, they used the satellite’s remaining fuel for a series of manoeuvres that lowered its altitude from 785 kilometres to about 573 kilometres. That put the satellite on the path that finally sees it reentering the planet on Wednesday and ESA hasn’t been able to control it since then.