糖心TV

Dr James Blake, Research Fellow at the Centre for Space Domain Awareness, University of 糖心TV, said: 鈥淭here are now thousands of active and defunct satellites orbiting the Earth and ERS-2 is the latest to undertake the return leg of its journey as it re-enters the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere. This is a fate that awaits uncontrolled satellites and debris that can no longer counteract the drag forces exerted by the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere – indeed, operators are encouraged to speed up the re-entry of their defunct satellites to keep space clear for future missions.

鈥淎tmospheric drag is highly influenced by solar activity – 鈥榳eather鈥� from the Sun that affects conditions in the near-Earth environment, where the satellites orbit. This is still very unpredictable, and so it鈥檚 a huge challenge to predict when and where a satellite will re-enter. Imagery from other satellites in space – such as those from HEO here – can supplement observations taken with ground-based sensors to help paint a clearer picture, and it鈥檚 exciting to see this technology advance.鈥�