Monday, 11th November – An Eurpean Satellite re-entered earth today as it was run out of fuel.
The European Space Agency(ESA)’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has been orbiting Earth since March 2009 at the lowest altitude of any research satellite.
This Satellite GOCE runs out of fuel and begins its descent towards Earth from a height of about 224 km.
Close to 01:00 CET on Monday 11th November, this satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere on a descending orbit pass that extended across Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica.
As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported
While most of the 1100 kg satellite disintegrated in the atmosphere, an estimated 25% reached Earth’s surface.
“The one-tonne GOCE satellite is only a small fraction of the 100–150 tonnes of man-made space objects that reenter Earth’s atmosphere annually,” said Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office.
