Illustration of the ERS-2 in orbit. Image: ESA
The ERS-2 was a sophisticated Earth observation satellite that set the stage for its modern companions, but its journey is expected to come to an end today.
An old European satellite weighing more than two tonnes is taking its final mission; falling back to the Earth after nearly 30 years in orbit.
The European Remote Sensing 2 satellite (ERS-2) was launched in 1995 and pioneered many Earth observation technologies, setting the stage for many modern-day satellites such as the EU Copernicus programme. The old satellite has been spotted making a descent back to Earth and is expected to break apart later today (21 February).
The European Space Agency (ESA) expects the satellite to start breaking apart over Africa later today. Most of the satellite will burn up, while any pieces that survive the re-entry will be spread out over a ground track that is hundreds of kilometres long – the ESA said associated risks are “very, very low”.
The ERS-2 and ERS-1 were the most sophisticated Earth observation satellites in the world when they launched, according to the ESA. The two satellites have been referred to as the “grandfathers of Earth observation in Europe”, the BBC reports.
These satellites collected valuable data about the Earth, such as information changes in land, oceans and polar caps. They were used to monitor natural disasters such as severe flooding and earthquakes, providing valuable data on the climate crisis.
But after 16 years of collecting data on our planet, the ESA began the process of “deorbiting” the ERS-2 satellite in 2011. This was done to mitigate the risk of space debris from the satellite.
The ESA said it conducted 66 manoeuvres in 2011 to get the ERS-2 into lower orbit, which allowed the satellite to slowly re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere within the next 15 years. Those manoeuvres used up the satellite’s fuel however, which means it has been impossible to know exactly where and when the satellite will re-enter the atmosphere.
The ERS-1 ended its operations in March 2000 after a computer and gyro control failure, but both satellites far exceeded their planned lifetimes in operation.
The ESA said ERS data from the two satellites supported more than 5,000 projects that produced roughly 4,000 scientific publications. The archived data still provides a wealth of valuable information, according to the agency.
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