Satellite orbiting earth with clouds below

Photo by Mara F on Unsplash

Soviet Venus Probe Crashes Back After 53 Years

scienceMay 1, 2026·347 words·3 min read

A Soviet-era spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 plunged back to Earth on Saturday, ending more than half a century of unintended orbit around the planet. The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) network confirmed the uncontrolled reentry after analysing radar data and observing that the craft no longer appeared on its expected orbits. The space debris office of the European Space Agency (ESA) reported that the spacecraft had reentered after failing to pass over a German radar station as scheduled.

Kosmos 482 was launched by the Soviet Union in 1972. It was part of a group of missions aimed at Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system. The lander was round and covered in titanium (a strong metal). It weighed more than 495 kilograms. It was built to land on Venus. But a rocket problem left the spacecraft stuck in Earth's orbit. Most of it fell back to Earth within ten years. The lander itself was about one metre across.

It was hard to predict when and where Kosmos 482 would fall. The Sun's activity and the spacecraft's old condition made it harder to guess. Most old satellites are guided to land in the Pacific Ocean. But this fall could not be controlled. Still, scientists said the chance of hitting anyone with debris was very small.

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