ESA: Aircraft to observe the burning of two satellites on site
ESA wants to reduce the problems caused by space debris. To this end, it is now letting two satellites crash in such a way that this can be directly observed.
Artist's impression of the Cluster satellites
(Image: ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO )
ESA has altered the orbit of two decommissioned research satellites so that they will crash near each other within 24 hours in late summer and can be observed from an aircraft. The European Space Agency announced this today, explaining that the observations are intended to provide important insights into exactly how satellites burn up when falling through the Earth's atmosphere. This should help in the development and construction of future satellites, as well as in the fight against space debris. The satellites are scheduled to crash 24 hours apart so that the observation aircraft can be refueled in between.
As ESA explains, the satellites are the last two of the so-called Cluster mission. This is mainly famous for the fact that the first four satellites were destroyed during the failed maiden flight of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle; Cluster II was then launched in 2000. The four satellites studied the Earth's magnetosphere until the first two burned up in 2024 and 2025. The crash on September 8, 2024, was already observed from an aircraft. However, on August 31 and September 1, this is now to happen twice within 24 hours. Comparing the observation data for the identically constructed satellites is expected to provide important insights into the extreme consequences of such crashes.
Prepared months in advance
With better data on when a falling satellite heats up and breaks apart and which materials remain intact for how long, one can build ones that burn up completely, explains Stijn Lemmens from ESA. At the same time, such data is difficult to collect because it mostly happens over remote regions of the Earth and at altitudes of around 80 km. Furthermore, the crashes are difficult to predict. In the case of uncontrolled crashes, it is not even clear directly beforehand over which continent or ocean it will happen. With Cluster, ESA has therefore taken precautions and maneuvered the remaining satellites into orbits in mid-January that are intended to cause the now scheduled crashes.
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The two satellites are scheduled to crash over the South Pacific. Because they are in better condition than the other two before their crash, ESA even hopes they will transmit signals until shortly before. A small research aircraft will then take off from Australia in good time, head to the crash site, and observe it. Afterward, it will return for refueling and a rest break before the research team takes off again. This also serves as practice for the ESA mission Draco, which consists of a satellite specifically developed for a controlled crash, scheduled to launch in 2027. With more than 100 sensors and four cameras, it is intended to record its crash in great detail while also being observed.
(mho)
