This time it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean - but what about next time?
The European Space Agency says one of its research satellites re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on early Monday on an orbit that passed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica.
The 1,100-kilogram (2,425-pound) satellite disintegrated in the atmosphere but about 25 percent of it - about 275 kilograms (600 pounds) of ‘space junk’ - slammed into the Atlantic between Antarctica and South America, a few hundred kilometers (miles) from the Falkland Islands, ESA said. It caused no known damage.
The satellite - called the GOCE, for Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer - was launched in 2009 to map the Earth’s gravitational field. The information is being used to understand ocean circulation, sea levels, ice dynamics and the Earth’s interior. The satellite had been gradually descending in orbit over the last three weeks after running out of fuel on 21 October.
But how much space junk is out there? Here’s a look:
SPACE JUNK FLYING AROUND THE COSMOS
Some 6,600 satellites have been launched. Some 3,600 remain in space but only about 1,000 are still operational, according to ESA. Not all are still intact, and the US Space Surveillance Network tracks some 23,000 space objects, ESA said. A lot of junk comes down unnoticed, said ESA Space Debris Office deputy head Holger Krag. Statistically, he said, ‘roughly every week you have a re-entry like GOCE.’
AND WHEN IT STARTS TO FALL
About 110 to 165 tons of space junk re-enters Earth’s atmosphere each year, according to Heiner Klinkrad, the head of ESA’s Space Debris Office. In 56 years of spaceflight, a total of 16,500 tons of human-made space objects have re-entered the atmosphere.
The European Space Agency says one of its research satellites re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on early Monday on an orbit that passed over Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica.
The 1,100-kilogram (2,425-pound) satellite disintegrated in the atmosphere but about 25 percent of it - about 275 kilograms (600 pounds) of ‘space junk’ - slammed into the Atlantic between Antarctica and South America, a few hundred kilometers (miles) from the Falkland Islands, ESA said. It caused no known damage.
The satellite - called the GOCE, for Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer - was launched in 2009 to map the Earth’s gravitational field. The information is being used to understand ocean circulation, sea levels, ice dynamics and the Earth’s interior. The satellite had been gradually descending in orbit over the last three weeks after running out of fuel on 21 October.
But how much space junk is out there? Here’s a look:
SPACE JUNK FLYING AROUND THE COSMOS
Some 6,600 satellites have been launched. Some 3,600 remain in space but only about 1,000 are still operational, according to ESA. Not all are still intact, and the US Space Surveillance Network tracks some 23,000 space objects, ESA said. A lot of junk comes down unnoticed, said ESA Space Debris Office deputy head Holger Krag. Statistically, he said, ‘roughly every week you have a re-entry like GOCE.’
AND WHEN IT STARTS TO FALL
About 110 to 165 tons of space junk re-enters Earth’s atmosphere each year, according to Heiner Klinkrad, the head of ESA’s Space Debris Office. In 56 years of spaceflight, a total of 16,500 tons of human-made space objects have re-entered the atmosphere.