ESA has launched a unique campaign to return four satellites of the Cluster mission, who worked in orbit 24 years

Key stages of the mission:

The first experiment: Salsa companion (Cluster 2) successfully completed the mission and burned up in the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean 8 September 2024 year. It was the first ever controlled return of a vehicle from such an elongated elliptical orbit.

Adjustments for "twins": ESA operators recently performed complex maneuvers for the last two satellites, Samba (Cluster 3) та Tango (Cluster 4). Their orbits are adjusted as follows, so that they enter the atmosphere almost simultaneously, with an interval of only y 24 years, at the end of August — at the beginning of September 2026 year.

Scientific purpose: Such precision is required for a rare surveillance mission from an aircraft. Scientists plan to record the decay of both identical satellites in real time, to compare, how different atmospheric conditions affect the destruction of structures, and which components survive the fall to Earth. Next in line is the Rumba satellite (Cluster 1), whose return is scheduled for November 2025 year.

Source: https://www.spacedaily.com