What goes up must come down, and this holds true for a decommissioned satellite that is poised to return to Earth this week, concluding its mission of over a decade.

ERS-2, one of the initial advanced Earth observing satellites launched by the European Space Agency (ESA), is scheduled for a “natural” re-entry after spending 16 years in space.

The ESA anticipates the satellite’s atmospheric re-entry to occur on Wednesday around 10 a.m. ET, as of the latest update on Sunday afternoon.

Launched in 1995, ERS-2 was originally slated for a three-year mission but exceeded expectations, remaining operational until 2011.

Throughout its tenure, the satellite contributed data to over 5,000 projects, monitoring phenomena such as polar ice reduction, sea levels, and atmospheric composition, USA Today reported.

Following its final image capture, the ESA executed 66 de-orbiting maneuvers to ensure the satellite’s controlled descent, preventing it from lingering in space for more than a century.

The majority of the 2.5-ton satellite is anticipated to disintegrate upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, with any remaining debris likely to fall into a body of water.

However, the agency currently lacks a precise prediction regarding the specific landing location.

Written by B.C. Begley