ESA closely monitored the reentry on 24 September of the UARS observatory satellite. The Agency’s Space Debris Office worked with NASA and international partners in a coordinated prediction and risk-assessment exercise.

NASA’s non-operational Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) reentered Earth’s atmosphere on 24 September 2011 between 05:23 and 07:09 CEST. The precise reentry time and location of debris impacts from the 5.6-tonne satellite have not been determined. No injuries or damage have been reported.

Since the beginning of the space age, there has been no confirmed report of an injury resulting from reentering space objects.

“Atmospheric drag reduced the satellite’s speed from 27 000 km/h such that the remaining fragments might have reached the surface at just 200 km/h,” said Prof. Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office.