‘No risk’ from exploded satellite

An American satellite that exploded in February does not pose a risk for the European Space Agency’s missions, the agency has said.

That is the conclusion of a risk assessment carried out by ESA following the explosion in a low orbit of a meteorological satellite of the United States Air Force on 3 February. The satellite broke up into about 40 pieces.

However, according to a statement issued by ESA on 4 March, the debris was unlikely to collide “in any meaningful way” with any of the EU’s Earth observation and communication satellites.