A Decommissioned Soviet satellite the Kosmos-1220 is in an uncontrolled descent and surviving fragments may hit Earth on Sunday 16 February RiaNovosti reports. The currently unmanned satellite is being monitored using the space tracking network, as of now the space tracking network indicate that it will impact in the Pacific Ocean.
“As of February 7, 2014 the fragments are expected to fall on February 16. The exact impact time and location of the fragments from the Kosmos-1220 satellite may change due to external factors”
The Kosmos-1220 launched on the 4th of November 1980 and was used to determine the position of enemy naval forces through detection and triangulation of their electrmagnetic emission, aboard it was carrying a Tsyklon 2 rocket. But in 2009 the Kosmos 1220 collided with a US Iridium telecom creating a wave of junk floating around in space increasing the risk of damage and loss-of-life for future spaceflights by 20% to 30%
“Today, fully five years after the accident, there are still some 1,500 large fragments of the satellites in orbit, which are a tremendous threat. These objects will be in orbit for another 20 to 30 years,”
Here is a livestream of the event
