Doomed German satellite crashed into Bay of Bengal?

A retired German satellite the size of a car re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Bay of Bengal, but space officials said it was not clear if any of the predicted 30 debris hit the sea's surface.

The German Aerospace Center, on its website, said the 2.7-tonne defunct research satellite returned to Earth on Sunday after languishing in a dead orbit for over a decade came down over the Bay of Bengal.

According to the space agency, the Roentgen Satellite re-entered the atmosphere at 01:50 GMT (06:20 IST) on Sunday above the Bay of Bengal in an area between India and Myanmar.

"Since Sunday morning we have had no reports as to any debris reaching the surface of the Earth," DLR spokesman Andreas Schuetz was quoted as saying.

Earlier, DLR officials had confirmed the satellite's re-entry on Sunday but could not able to confirm the location. While the 21-year-old satellite broke apart as it entered Earth's atmosphere, DLR officials last week estimated that up to 30 pieces, weighing 1.9 tonnes, consisting some of heat-resistant mirrors and ceramic parts, could survive the fiery trip and reach the surface of the planet. However, they said there was one-in-2,000 chance that any of the pieces would hit someone on Earth.

"With the re-entry of ROSAT, one of the most successful German scientific space missions has been brought to its ultimate conclusion," Johann-Dietrich Worner, chairman of the DLR executive board, said in a statement.

"The dedication of all those involved at DLR and our national and international partners was exemplary; they are all deserving of my sincere thank you," he added.

The German satellite was launched into orbit in 1990 to study X-ray radiation from stars, comets, supernovas, nebulas and black holes, among other things. It was originally designed for an 18-month mission, but it far outlived its projected lifespan. In 1998, its star tracker failed, forcing its X-ray sensors to point directly at the sun. This caused irreparable damage to the satellite, and it was decommissioned in February 1999.

ROSAT, which had found about 110,000 stars, supernovas and cosmic rays emitting X-rays while alive, was the second satellite to fall from space within a month.

On September 24, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, a 6.5-tonne National Aeronautics and Space Administration climate satellite, plummeted into the Pacific Ocean. Experts had already predicted that ROSAT would likely end up in the sea as well, since 75 per cent of Earth is covered by water. However, they had hinted that its re-entry path could be over Asia, possibly China.