NASA’s 1,300-pound satellite will reach Earth’s surface today, March 10, 2026, after orbiting Earth for more than a decade.
NASA has issued a statement announcing that “The A Van Allen probe is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere nearly 14 years after its launch.”
The Van Allen Probe A spacecraft, weighing about 1,323 pounds (600 kilograms), was launched into orbit in August 2012 along with its partner, Van Allen Probe B, to conduct scientific experiments in the radiation belts around Earth, which are named after them.
For context, the radiation belts known as the Van Allen belts were discovered by renowned physicist James Van Allen.
However, according to NASA, both missions were abandoned in 2019 and the Van Allen A probe’s time outside Earth is almost over.
What time will the 600 kg NASA satellite crash into Earth?
According to details provided by the US Space Force, the satellite is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere today, Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 7:45 pm EDT (23:45 GMT), give or take 24 hours.
According to NASA, there is no imminent danger to humans as they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
The statement added: “NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry. The risk of harm to anyone on Earth is low, about 1 in 4,200.”
This means that the low risk of injury is around 0.02%, taking into account 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 scheduled for a two-year schedule, but the spacecraft managed to continue operating without any problems until 2019 (Probe B) and October 2019 (Probe A).
They were the first spacecraft made to study the radiation belts within a region around our Earth for many years.
It is known as an area where most spacecraft and astronaut missions minimize time to avoid harmful radiation.
