"The spacecraft, part of a pair, was launched in 2012 on a planned two-year mission to study the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. The mission lasted seven years before the spacecraft ran out of fuel in 2019 and was unable to keep its solar panels angled toward the Sun."
"In 2019, planners estimated that the spacecraft would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in 2034, but those calculations were made before the current solar cycle, which, according to NASA, 'has proven far more active than expected.' The result is that some satellites are encountering higher-than-expected atmospheric drag, resulting in earlier-than-expected re-entry."
"The US Space Force confirmed the spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere over the eastern Pacific Ocean region, at approximately 2° south latitude and 255.3 degrees east longitude. NASA said it 'expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it traveled through the atmosphere, but some components may have survived re-entry.'"
NASA's Van Allen Probe A, launched in 2012 for a two-year mission studying radiation belts, operated for seven years before depleting fuel in 2019. Originally predicted to re-enter in 2034, the spacecraft re-entered on March 11, eight years ahead of schedule. The current solar cycle proved far more active than anticipated, increasing atmospheric drag on satellites and causing accelerated orbit decay. Van Allen Probe A re-entered over the eastern Pacific Ocean with a 1 in 4,200 risk of causing injury. Most of the 1,323-pound spacecraft burned during re-entry, though some components may have survived. Other spacecraft including NASA's Swift observatory and Hubble Space Telescope are experiencing similar orbit decay effects.
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