Soviet-era spacecraft ‘likely’ to have re-entered Earth’s atmosphere

Part of a Soviet-era spacecraft has likely re-entered Earth's atmosphere after more than half a century in orbit, according to the European Space Agency.

Cosmos 482, launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus, never left Earth's orbit, but instead broke into four pieces that orbited the planet for more than five decades.

The EU's Space Surveillance and Tracking Center (SST) said one fragment, believed to be a lander, was “likely” to re-enter the atmosphere at about 06:16 GMT (07:16 BST) on Saturday.

It is unclear whether the object fell to the ground or burned up in the atmosphere.

It is also unclear exactly where the object re-entered the atmosphere.

While experts don't know much about the object's re-entry, 70% of the Earth is covered by sea, so it's unlikely it caused significant damage.

“It's much more likely that you'll win the lottery than run into this piece of space junk,” said Stein Lemmens, a senior analyst at the European Space Agency.

The Cosmos 482 landing capsule was built to withstand the extreme heat and pressure of Venus's atmosphere, meaning it had a strong heat shield and robust construction.

That's why experts believe it may have survived an uncontrolled descent through Earth's atmosphere.

However, Kosmos 482's parachute system, originally designed to slow the lander's descent to Venus, has likely become unusable after more than 50 years in space.

Mr. Lemmens explained that “the return of artificial objects to the Earth's atmosphere occurs quite often.” He said this happens weekly for larger spacecraft and daily for smaller ones.

Objects usually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere before they reach the ground.

Chinese Long March 5B launch vehicle re-entered the Indian Ocean in 2022, and Tiangong-1 space station mostly burned over the Pacific Ocean in 2018.

Cosmos 482 is now being closely monitored by international space agencies.

Mr Lemmens said future spacecraft “must be designed so that they can leave orbit safely, preferably through a controlled re-entry”.

This will allow landing sites to be accurately predicted, reducing the risk of any debris impacting populated areas and protecting people and property while “managing the environmental impact of space debris.”