ESA To Test Uncontrolled Satellite Reentry
They plan to learn more about how satellites break up as they crash back to Earth.
Roughly 200 sensors and four infrared mini-cameras will measure and capture the disintegration process that DRACO will undergo until it self-destructs on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere – Graphic: ESA
The European Space Agency plans to launch and then let a test satellite return to Earth in an uncontrolled manner. The Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object (DRACO) will be built by the Spanish company Deimos and is currently planned to fly to space no earlier than 2027.