Soviet-era spacecraft crashes to Earth after 53 years in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Soviet-era spacecraft plunged back to Earth on Saturday, 53 years after it was stranded in orbit due to a failed mission to Venus.
The spacecraft, known as Kosmos 482, reentered Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled descent, with Russia's space agency reporting it likely came down over the Indian Ocean.
The European Union's Space Surveillance and Tracking network also confirmed the reentry, though experts remain uncertain about the exact location of impact.
Launched in 1972 as part of a Soviet mission to Venus, Kosmos 482 never escaped Earth's orbit after a rocket malfunction.
Most of the spacecraft burned up or returned to Earth within a decade, but its titanium-encased lander — designed to endure the harsh environment of Venus — remained in orbit for over five decades.
Weighing roughly 1,000 pounds and measuring about a meter in diameter, the spherical lander was the final component to fall. Experts noted that parts of it could have survived the intense heat of reentry due to its rugged construction.
Under international treaty, any surviving debris would be considered the property of Russia.
The spacecraft's uncontrolled descent drew global attention because it lacked the guided reentry typical of decommissioned satellites. The U.S. Space Command, which monitors space debris, had not confirmed the crash as of Saturday afternoon, citing ongoing data analysis.
While the risk to people on the ground was minimal, some observers expressed disappointment that the exact reentry point remained unknown. 'If it was over the Indian Ocean, only the whales saw it,' Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek commented on X.
The European Space Agency's debris office tracked the reentry after the spacecraft failed to pass over a German radar station, which had been monitoring its descent. Increased solar activity and the spacecraft's degraded state further complicated efforts to predict the time and location of impact. — Agencies
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