NASA’s 1,300-pound satellite will touch Earth’s surface today, March 10, 2026, after being in orbit around Earth for over a decade now.
NASA released a statement announcing that “the Van Allen A probe is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere nearly 14 years after launch.”
The Van Allen Probe A spacecraft, weighing about 1,323 pounds (600 kilograms), was launched into orbit in August 2012 with its pair, Van Allen Probe B, to conduct scientific experiments on the radiation belts around Earth, for which they are named.
As a reminder, the radiation belts known as the Van Allen belts were discovered by the famous physicist James Van Allen.
However, according to NASA, both missions were aborted in 2019 and Van Allen Probe A’s time off Earth is almost over.
What time will a 600 kg NASA satellite crash into Earth?
According to details provided by the US Space Force, the satellite is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere today, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 7:45 p.m. EDT (11:45 p.m. GMT), give or take 24 hours.
According to NASA, there is no imminent danger to humans upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
The statement added: “NASA expects most spacecraft to burn up during their journey through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry. The risk of harm to anyone on Earth is low, approximately 1 in 4,200.”
This therefore means that the low risk of injury is approximately 0.02%, given that water covers approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface.
Any debris that survives will likely fall into the ocean, far from cities and land.
The Van Allen Probes satellites were planned to last two years, but the spacecraft managed to continue operating without any problems until 2019 (probe B) and October 2019 (probe A).
They were the first spacecraft manufactured for many years to study the radiation belts in a region around our Earth.
It is known as an area where most spacecraft and astronaut missions minimize time in order to avoid harmful radiation.
