2024-02-13 22:22:00
Expected in a week, the entry into the Earth’s atmosphere of the ESA satellite should not cause any debris on the ground.
A European Earth observation satellite, ERS-2, which has not been in service for 13 years, is preparing to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner where most of the machine will burn, announced this Tuesday, February 13, the European Space Agency (ESA).
This fall-back operation, quite rare at ESA, was started in 2011 to prevent accidental destruction of the satellite in orbit from dispersing debris dangerous to active satellites and the International Space Station (ISS).
Minimal risk of debris on the ground
Expected within a week, the re-entry of the ERS-2 satellite can occur anywhere, but the risk of debris causing damage to the ground is tiny, ESA experts said at a conference. press.
“The risk of a piece of the satellite falling on our heads is estimated at 1 in 100 billion,” said Benjamin Bastida, a space debris engineer at the European Space Operations Center, who carefully follows the craft’s trajectory to accurately predict where and when its remains will fall.
Most of the 2.5 tonnes of ERS-2 will burn up when entering the atmosphere. “It is estimated that the largest fragment of the satellite that can reach the ground is 52 kilos,” detailed Henri Laur of the Earth Observation Directorate at ESA.
Disabled since 2011
A pioneer satellite in Earth observation, ERS-2 was launched in 1995 and placed at an altitude of nearly 800 kilometers.
The ESA deactivated it in 2011 so that it gradually fell back towards Earth, about 500 km away, in just 13 years. While at 800 km, “it takes between 100 and 200 years to enter the atmosphere. We could not take the risk of leaving the satellite up there,” explained Henri Laur.
Because a satellite deprived of its internal energy (fuel, batteries, etc.) presents significant risks of exploding and creating debris, underlines Quentin Verspieren, coordinator of the space security program at ESA.
The ESA launched in 2023 a “zero debris” charter for space missions designed from 2030. “More than 100 organizations, including Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, Safran, have announced their intention to sign the charter,” according to this expert who “hopes” that Space X and Amazon will do the same.
In July 2023, the European satellite Aeolus returned to Earth in a controlled manner because its orbit (300 km) was lower than that of ERS-2. The craft fell back into the Atlantic Ocean.
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