ESA will deploy a Falcon 900 to observe the final Cluster satellite re-entry, capturing rare real-world debris data.

When satellites fall back to Earth, most disappear unnoticed, burning up high above the oceans in a violent but largely unseen process.

For the European Space Agency, however, the final descent of its remaining Cluster spacecraft will be anything but routine.

Earlier this year, ESA executed a carefully timed set of manoeuvres, subtly adjusting the orbits of its final two Cluster satellites, Samba and Tango, so their controlled re-entries can be observed from a Falcon 900 research aircraft. The spacecraft will descend roughly 24 hours apart, on 31 August and 1 September 2026, over a remote stretch of the South Pacific Ocean.