"Massive Deorbiting Satellites Pose Imminent Threat to Earth's Surface"

The European Space Agency's ERS-2 satellite is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere this week, with substantial fragments likely to survive re-entry, although the chances of anyone being injured by the space debris are extremely low. The satellite, launched in 1995, has been deorbited and is set to return to Earth in an uncontrolled manner. While most of the satellite is expected to burn up, some sizable pieces could reach the ground, with the likelihood of causing harm to humans being extremely remote. ESA is confident that the surviving remnants will likely end up in the ocean, and the agency has a space debris mitigation policy in place for future satellite disposals.