How much does ERS-2 weigh? European Space Agency satellite to meet a fiery end in Earth’s atmosphere this week

The latest update released by the European Space Agency on Tuesday, February 20, claims that the ERS-2 satellite would most likely be re-entering the earth's atmosphere in a fiery manner on Wednesday, February 21. The agency reported that the satellite will burn up in the atmosphere once its altitude is decreased to around 80 km from the surface of the Earth.

Most of the fragments from ERS-2 will burn up in the atmosphere itself and the very little remaining will mostly fall into the ocean. The satellite was launched way back in April of 1995 and was deorbited in 2011 after 16 years of exemplary service. ERS-2 has an estimated weight of 2294 kg or 5057 pounds.

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The ERS-2 satellite was deorbited after a successful 16-year run

According to the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office, the ERS-2 is estimated to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 20:24 CET or 6:00 AM ET. However, this is not an exact prediction as the uncertainty of the time frame is at +/- 9.91 hours.

The ERS-2 will have a natural re-entry into the Earth's orbit as its last remaining fuel was used up way back in 2011 when the device was deorbited and its batteries were also depleted. This was done to reduce the risk of an explosion. The ERS-2's electronics and communications systems were shut down.

Hence, when the ERS-2 is on its descent, there is no way to control it from the ground. The ESA attributed the uncertainty to "unpredictable solar activity" that affects the atmosphere of the planet and therefore, the satellite's drag. The ability to forecast atmospheric density at the time of re-entry is quite limited.

The direction the satellite is facing influences re-entry as well, however this cannot be observed during a natural re-entry since it is not possible to know which side of the object is facing the atmosphere by simply observing its trajectory.

On its re-entry, the ESA claims that the ERS-2 is estimated to weigh 2294 kg or 5057 pounds. However, this is due to the depleted fuel as the object originally weighed 2516 kg. CBS News compared the weight of the object to that of an "adult male rhinoceros". However, the ESA assured:

"On average, an object of similar mass reenters Earth’s atmosphere every week or two."

Back on April 21, 1995, the European Space Agency successfully launched the ERS-2 satellite. This was an Earth observer satellite and it collected a plethora of precious information on the landscape of the planet and was even used for monitoring natural disasters in remote areas. The ESA website proudly states:

"At the time, it was the most sophisticated Earth observation spacecraft ever developed and launched by Europe."

The ERS-2 enjoyed a long and largely successful 16-year run before finally, in 2011, the decision was made to cease its operations. In July and August of the same year, 66 deorbiting maneuvers were carried out on the ES-2 before the mission finally ended on September 5, 2011.

ERS-2's remaining fuel was used up, its altitude was decreased to about 573 km, its batteries were depleted, and all of its electronic systems were turned off thanks to the deorbiting process. This was done to lessen the possibility of the ERS-2 breaking apart, exploding, and colliding with other objects and producing more space debris.

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According to the ESA, the satellite will start burning into fragments when it reaches an altitude of 80 km and will almost completely burn up. A few remaining fragments may make contact with the surface of the earth and will "most likely" fall into the ocean. The fragments are not radioactive or toxic in any manner.