ISRO gears up for taxing experiment of controlled reentry of aged satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for an "extremely challenging" experiment of controlled re-entry of a decommissioned orbiting satellite on Tuesday.
The low Earth satellite, Megha-Tropiques-1 (MT1), was launched on October 12, 2011, as a joint satellite venture of ISRO and the French space agency, CNES for tropical weather and climate studies.
An uninhabited area in the Pacific Ocean between 5S to 14S latitude and 119W to 100W longitude was identified as the targeted re-entry zone for MT1, weighing about 1000 kg.
About 125 kg on-board fuel remained unutilised at its end-of-mission that could pose risks for accidental break-up, an ISRO statement noted.
This left-over fuel was estimated to be sufficient to achieve a fully controlled atmospheric re-entry to impact the uninhabited location in the Pacific Ocean.
Controlled re-entries involve deorbiting to very low altitudes to ensure impact occurs within a targeted safe zone.
Usually, large satellites/rocket