Dr James Blake, Research Fellow at the Centre for Space Domain Awareness, University of Warwick, said: “There 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’s atmosphere. This is a fate that awaits uncontrolled satellites and debris that can no longer counteract the drag forces exerted by the Earth’s atmosphere – indeed, operators are encouraged to speed up the re-entry of their defunct satellites to keep space clear for future missions.

“Atmospheric drag is highly influenced by solar activity – ‘weather’ from the Sun that affects conditions in the near-Earth environment, where the satellites orbit. This is still very unpredictable, and so it’s 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’s exciting to see this technology advance.”