Aeolus Assisted Reentry (ESA)

ESA guided its retired Aeolus wind satellite down in the first assisted reentry of its kind, cutting the already low debris risk by a factor of 150.

Image: NASA.

The Five W's of Aeolus Assisted Reentry

Who

The European Space Agency, operating from its ESOC mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

What

A series of engine burns that steered a satellite never designed for controlled reentry into a safer, planned reentry.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

When

Burns from July 24, 2023; Aeolus reentered above Antarctica on July 28, 2023.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

Where

Low Earth orbit, ending in Earth's atmosphere with debris targeted at the Atlantic ground track.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

Why

To show that old satellites can be brought home more safely, and to push ESA toward debris-neutral missions by 2030.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

Source: ESA, Zero Debris Charter

Impact Statement

Agency solution · active (Zero Debris approach)

When ESA's Aeolus wind satellite ran out of mission life, it was not designed for a controlled ending. In July 2023 ESA's mission control used its last fuel to lower it to 120 km and line it up so any surviving pieces would fall along a planned Atlantic track, the first assisted reentry of its kind. The already low risk from falling debris dropped by a factor of 150, and the satellite spent weeks less adrift in orbit.

Source: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

Source: ESA, Final images before Aeolus demise

It is part of ESA's Zero Debris approach: by 2030 all ESA missions are to be debris neutral.

Source: ESA, Zero Debris Charter

For Further Information: ESA, Aeolus: a historic end

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