Soviet-era spacecraft plunges back to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit

A Soviet-era spacecraft has plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than half a century after its failed launch to Venus.

The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking confirmed Kosmos 482’s uncontrolled re-entry, based on analysis and no-shows of the spacecraft on subsequent orbits.

The European Space Agency’s space debris office also indicated that the spacecraft had re-entered after it failed to appear over a German radar station.

It was not immediately known where the spacecraft came in or how much, if any, of the half-tonne spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit.

Experts said ahead of time that some if not all of the object might come crashing down, given it was built to withstand a landing on Venus, the solar system’s hottest planet.

The chances of anyone getting clobbered by spacecraft debris were exceedingly low, scientists said.

Launched in 1972 by the former Soviet Union, the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 was part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.

Much of the spacecraft came tumbling back to Earth within a decade of the failed launch. No longer able to resist gravity’s tug as its orbit dwindled, the spherical lander – an estimated 3ft across – was the last part of the spacecraft to come down.

The lander was encased in titanium, according to experts, and weighed more than 1,000lbs (495kg).

After following the spacecraft’s downward spiral, scientists, military experts and others could not pinpoint in advance precisely when or where the spacecraft might come down.

Solar activity added to the uncertainty as well as the spacecraft’s deteriorating condition after so long in space.

As of Saturday morning, the US Space Command had yet to confirm the spacecraft’s demise as it collected and analysed data from orbit.

The US Space Command routinely monitors dozens of re-entries each month. What set Kosmos 482 apart — and earned it extra attention from government and private space trackers – was that it was more likely to survive re-entry, according to officials.

It was also coming in uncontrolled, without any intervention by flight controllers who normally target the Pacific and other vast expanses of water for old satellites and other space debris.