According to the European Space Agency, a fragment of a Soviet-era spacecraft, which had been in orbit for over fifty years, has likely re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft in question, Kosmos 482, was launched in 1972 as part of a mission aimed at exploring Venus. However, it never escaped Earth’s orbit and broke into four pieces, which have been circling the planet for decades.
Fragment re-entry details
The EU Space Surveillance and Tracking centre (SST) reported that one of the fragments, presumed to be the lander, “most likely” re-entered the atmosphere at approximately 06:16 GMT (07:16 BST) on Saturday. Nevertheless, the exact location of the re-entry remains uncertain. While the specifics are still unclear, experts point out that 70% of Earth is covered by water, making it improbable that the debris caused significant damage upon re-entry.
“It’s much more likely that you win the lottery than that you get impacted by this piece of space debris,”
stated Stijn Lemmens, a senior analyst at the European Space Agency. He elaborated that the lander capsule of Kosmos 482 was engineered to withstand the extreme conditions of Venus’s atmosphere, which endowed it with a robust heat shield and durable structure. This resilience leads experts to believe that it may have survived its uncontrolled descent through Earth’s atmosphere.
Context of re-entries
However, the parachute system of Kosmos 482, designed to slow the lander’s descent towards Venus, is likely to have deteriorated after more than half a century in space. Mr. Lemmens noted that the re-entry of man-made objects into Earth’s atmosphere is a common occurrence, happening weekly for larger spacecraft and daily for smaller ones. Typically, such objects incinerate in the atmosphere before they can impact the ground.
He referenced past incidents, including the re-entry of China’s Long March 5B booster over the Indian Ocean in 2022 and the Tiangong-1 space station, which largely burned up over the Pacific Ocean in 2018. Currently, Kosmos 482 is under close observation by international space agencies to monitor any further developments.
Mr. Lemmens emphasized the need for future spacecraft to be designed for safe orbital disposal, preferably through controlled re-entries. Implementing such measures would enhance the ability to predict landing locations accurately, thereby reducing the risk of debris impacting populated areas and protecting both people and property, while also managing the environmental implications of space debris.