The spacecraft ‘Kosmos-482’ fell into the ocean after over half a century of deorbiting.
The Cosmos-482 spacecraft, created in the Soviet Union, ended its stay in orbit on May 10, falling into the waters of the Indian Ocean near Indonesia. This was reported by the Russian state corporation “Roscosmos”. The probe was launched back in 1972 to study Venus, but due to technical failures, it never left Earth’s orbit.
According to the information of the Russian space services, the control over the descent trajectory of the apparatus was carried out by specialists of the system of monitoring dangerous objects in space. According to Roscosmos, the probe entered the dense atmosphere at a distance of about 560 kilometers west of the Middle Andaman Island and fell into the sea west of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The exact place of the fall could not be established, there were no casualties.
“Cosmos-482” was launched into space as part of the Venus study program, but a failure in the rocket system prevented it from making an interplanetary flight. The device remained in an elongated orbit around the Earth, gradually losing altitude due to atmospheric resistance. For more than 50 years, its trajectory gradually shifted downward, until on May 10, 2025, it left orbit for good.
Unlike many other objects of space debris, which disintegrate into fragments upon entering the atmosphere, “Cosmos-482”, according to experts, could retain its integrity. Its design is designed for extreme loads during passage through the dense layers of the Venusian atmosphere, which allowed it to survive the fall to Earth without destruction.
