One of the largest reentries in recent years, ESA’s ERS-2 satellite is coming down this week.
After almost three decades in orbit, an early Earth-observation satellite is finally coming down this week. The European Space Agency’s European Remote Sensing satellite ERS-2 is set toland masses, oceans, rivers, vegetation and the polar regions of the Earth using visible light and ultraviolet sensors. The mission was on hand for several natural disasters, including the flood of the Elbe River across Germany in 2006. ERS-2 ceased operations in September 2011.
ESA passed its first space debris mitigation policy in 2008, 13 years after ERS-2 was launched. In 2011, ESA decided to passively reenter the satellite, and began a series of 66 deorbiting maneuvers to bring its orbit down from 785 kilometers to 573 kilometers. Its fuel drained and batteries exhausted, ERS-2 is now succumbing to the increased drag of the Earth’s atmosphere as we near the peak of the current solar cycle.Tracking the satellite is as simple as knowing where and when to look.
Taking out ERS-2 highlights the growing dilemma posed by space junk. There are currently over 25,800 objects in Earth orbit. That amount is growing exponentially as the annual launch cadence increases. 2023 saw areach orbit, and 2024 is on track to break that number. The rise of mega-constellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink is adding to this burden.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Massive European Satellite to Plummet Back Down to Earth UncontrollablyScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »
A 5,000-pound satellite is expected to fall to Earth this weekA European Space Agency satellite is expected to reenter and largely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday morning.
Read more »
ESA's ERS-2: a pioneer's final journey back to earthInteresting Engineering is a cutting edge, leading community designed for all lovers of engineering, technology and science.
Read more »
A massive, dead satellite will barrel back down to Earth this monthA massive, dead satellite will fall back to Earth this month. Here's what to expect from the ERS-2's re-entry.
Read more »
A Mesospheric Marvel: Rare Clouds Spotted via SatelliteThe Himawari-9 satellite, captured imagery of polar mesospheric clouds—also known as noctilucent clouds—over Antarctica.
Read more »
JPSS Satellite Science PublicationsThe JPSS program is committed to ensuring that its user community is prepared to utilize the satellite imagery and data available from JPSS.
Read more »