GOCE satellite expected to reenter Sunday night
Posted: Sat, Nov 9, 2013, 9:20 AM ET (1420 GMT)
A European satellite in a decaying orbit is expected to reenter late Sunday or early Monday, but poses very little risk to people on Earth. ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, launched in 2009 to map the Earth's gravity field in high detail, providing information on the planet's interior as well as circulation patters in the oceans. The spacecraft maintained its low orbit with ion thrusters, exhausting the xenon fuel for them last month. Since then the orbit of the spacecraft has decayed, and ESA officials now believe the spacecraft will reenter Sunday night. Some debris from the one-ton spacecraft will survive reentry, but the odds of any debris causing damage or injury is extremely low, ESA believes.
A European satellite in a decaying orbit is expected to reenter late Sunday or early Monday, but poses very little risk to people on Earth. ESA's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, launched in 2009 to map the Earth's gravity field in high detail, providing information on the planet's interior as well as circulation patters in the oceans. The spacecraft maintained its low orbit with ion thrusters, exhausting the xenon fuel for them last month. Since then the orbit of the spacecraft has decayed, and ESA officials now believe the spacecraft will reenter Sunday night. Some debris from the one-ton spacecraft will survive reentry, but the odds of any debris causing damage or injury is extremely low, ESA believes.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA to launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:54 AM ET (1454 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, April 25
Where Did the Middle East Go? Satellite Imaging in the Fog of War
Bloomberg News — 11:18 am ET (1518 GMT) Creotech Instruments secures €52 million ESA contract to build Polish satellite constellation CAMILA
Creotech — 11:17 am ET (1517 GMT) Firefly Aerospace to Announce First Quarter 2026 Financial Results on May 4, 2026
Firefly Aerospace — 8:41 am ET (1241 GMT) Golden Dome dreams face harsh budget reality
POLITICO — 8:38 am ET (1238 GMT) Space Force’s Space Based Interceptor Program to Counter Growing Speed and Maneuverability of Modern Missile Threats in support of Golden Dome for America
US Space Force — 8:38 am ET (1238 GMT) |
