The defunct Aeolus satellite will deliberately crash into the Atlantic Ocean TODAY as experts attempt a bold and unprecedented maneuver to steer it back to Earth safely.
- Aeolus has been orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 200 miles (320 km) for five years.
- However, after successfully completing his mission, Aeolus’s fuel nearly ran out.
A dead British-built satellite is set to plummet to Earth later with the help of a never-before-attempted maneuver to bring it down safely.
Mission controllers have embarked on a bold and unprecedented attempt to steer the 1.3-tonne Aeolus probe into a position that will see it crash harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean.
The weather-monitoring satellite was not designed for controlled re-entry at the end of its mission, but the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to use what little fuel is left on board to guide it to a remote part of the planet.
Although much of the car-sized satellite will burn up in the atmosphere, about 20 percent of the debris is expected to reach the surface later today, where it will sink into a watery grave.
ESA’s ambitious plan is the first maneuver of its kind.
Out of orbit: Mission controllers have embarked on an unprecedented attempt to steer the 1.3-tonne Aeolus probe into a position that will see it crash harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean
Aeolus, which was built by British engineers at Airbus (pictured), has been orbiting Earth at an altitude of 200 miles (320 km) for five years.
The goal is to collect data for future satellite reentries so other space-capable nations and private companies can use similar methods to safely divert dead spacecraft and minimize the already low risk of them landing in populated areas.
“This assisted re-entry attempt goes beyond the safety standards of the mission, which was planned and designed in the late 1990s,” said Tim Flohrer, head of ESA’s Office of Space Debris.
‘Once ESA and industrial partners discovered that it might be possible to further reduce the already minimal risk to life or infrastructure, the wheels turned.
“If all goes to plan, Aeolus would be in line with current safety standards for missions being designed today.”
Aeolus, which was built by British engineers at Airbus, has been orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 200 miles (320 km) for five years.
Launched in 2018 to measure wind in the atmosphere to improve weather forecasts, it fired a laser toward our planet to track the air movement at every location and altitude around the world.
did this for collecting the scattering of light that reflects off dust, gas, and water droplets moving in the wind.
Purpose: Launched in 2018 to measure wind in the atmosphere to improve weather forecasts, it fired a laser toward our planet to track air movement in all locations around the world.
How it worked: Aeolus did this by collecting the scattering of light that is reflected from dust, gas, and water droplets moving in the wind (pictured above).
The speed at which various markers move and the winds that carry them were then revealed by changes in the wavelength of light.
However, after successfully completing his mission Aeolus’s fuel is almost spent.
The satellite has been falling from its operating altitude of 320 km (198 miles) since June 19 and is now being pulled toward re-entry by gravity and Earth’s atmosphere.
When it reached an altitude of 280 km (174 miles) on Monday, mission controllers in Germany began a series of maneuvers to direct it into a lower orbit.
At first it was reduced to 155 miles (250 km), then 142 miles (230 km) as the week progressed.
Officials eventually want to get it into a 75-mile (120 km) orbit and on a trajectory to drop into the Atlantic about five hours later.
The ESA said it was impossible to give an exact date for Aeolus’s reentry.
INSIDE GREAT BRITAIN’S PLANS TO TACKLE SPACE JUNK
Last year, the UK government announced a series of new measures designed to boost sustainability in space and help clean up the millions of bits of debris clogging near-Earth orbit.
The measures include an ‘Active Debris Removal’ programme, which involves launching a new spacecraft to collect and physically destroy pieces of space junk floating around Earth.
Britain wants to launch a spacecraft that can stay in orbit and remove multiple pieces of debris, forcing them to burn up in Earth’s upper atmosphere, as shown in this graphic above.
The project, which will receive £5 million in government funding, is due to launch in 2026.
It’s not a new idea: Private space companies like ClearSpace and Astroscale are already building spacecraft to capture debris in near-Earth orbit.
However, they focus on removing only a little bit of junk at a time.
Britain wants to launch a spacecraft that is capable of capturing two dead satellites and forcing them back into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up.
Read more here.
