• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Exactly where 1,100lbs Soviet satellite could crash into Earth at 17,000mph this week

Home> Science> Space

Published 09:13 6 May 2025 GMT+1

Exactly where 1,100lbs Soviet satellite could crash into Earth at 17,000mph this week

Likely to crash back on Earth in one piece, the lost satellite could be deadly

Rikki Loftus

Rikki Loftus

A 1,100lbs Soviet satellite is expected to crash down back on Earth at 17,000mph this week.

The lost satellite was launched into space over 50 years ago and scientists are predicting that it could crash land anytime between May 9 and May 13.

And one astronomer believes to have an answer as to where on our planet it will land, with the entirety of the UK being in the firing line.

Advert

As part of the Kosmos 482 probe, the satellite was originally launched into space by the USSR in 1972 in order to collect information on Venus.

However, the probe suffered an engine malfunction while still in Earth’s orbit and it broke into four separate pieces.

The satellite is expected to return to Earth this week (Petrovich9/Getty Images)
The satellite is expected to return to Earth this week (Petrovich9/Getty Images)

While the other pieces burned up over New Zealand, the final missing object, which was the probe’s landing module, is making its way back to Earth, according to experts.

Advert

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dr Marco Langbroek who is a satellite tracker and astronomer at the Delft University of Technology, believes that the Soviet satellite will arrive back on Earth somewhere between latitude 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south.

If he is correct then this will mean that the satellite could hit the UK, with places south of Cambridge including Ipswich and Milton Keynes at risk of being struck.

And it’s certainly worrying if the space junk hits a populated region because, traveling at 17,000mph, it could be deadly if it were to collide with people.

Because this final piece of the satellite was designed to safely land on Venus, it is unlikely to burn up as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and instead will likely land in one piece.

Advert

Langbroek added: “The risks involved are not particularly high, but not zero.”

The satellite was first launched into space over 50 years ago (Dragon Claws/Getty Images)
The satellite was first launched into space over 50 years ago (Dragon Claws/Getty Images)

It’s not clear yet where the object will land and predictions could change at the last minute due to solar weather that could move it off its course.

In a blog post, Dr Jonathan McDowell, who is an astronomer who tracks satellite re-entries, wrote: “The vehicle is dense but inert and has no nuclear materials.

Advert

“No need for major concern, but you wouldn't want it bashing you on the head.”

He continued: “In which case I expect it’ll have the usual one-in-several-thousand chance of hitting someone.”

Also speaking to the Daily Mail, McDowell went on to say: “If this were to cause damage – or worse, to hurt someone – that would be something that the Russian government would be liable for.”

Featured Image Credit: Dragon Claws/Getty Images
Space
Science
News
History

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
8 hours ago
10 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    World's biggest lithium reservoir with $1,500,000,000,000,000 worth of the precious metal hiding in supervolcano

    This could turn the US into a leading global supplier of the valuable metal

    Science
  • 6 hours ago

    Earth could be hit today by insane 600,000 mile-wide solar eruption that triggers extreme geomagnetic storm

    Scientists are warning that this could cause disruptions on Earth

    Science
  • 8 hours ago

    Scientists reveal people really can die from a broken heart but one gender is more like to suffer from it

    Heartbreak is now considered an actual health condition, and it can actually kill you

    Science
  • 10 hours ago

    Scientists build dystopian 32ft ‘black box’ solely designed to record the end of civilization

    It's the end of the world as we know it

    Science
  • Failed Soviet satellite from 1972 is now hurtling back to Earth like a meteorite and could land anywhere
  • Extremely rare star explosion set to be visible from Earth this week
  • Mysterious Russian satellite sparks fears that it could be a space-based weapon
  • 4,400,000,000 year-old chunk of Earth oldest to ever be discovered