ERBS U.S. satellite crashed into sea near Alaska

The United States' Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) [NASA]

A disused U.S. satellite crashed into sea near Alaska, the Science Ministry confirmed.

Earlier Monday, Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT warned that NASA’s retired Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere at around 12:20 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. possibly in the regions around the Korean Peninsula.

Around 3:20 p.m., the ministry announced that the 5,400-pound satellite had likely passed over the peninsula. No damages have been reported.

Later that day, the U.S. Space Force confirmed that the ERBS landed near the Bering Sea, off the southwest coast of Alaska, at 1:04 p.m., according to the Science Ministry.

The landing site was largely in line with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute’s prediction, the ministry added.

As most of the satellite was expected to burn up at high altitudes while reentering the atmosphere, NASA estimated that the risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth was extremely low, with odds of approximately 1 to 9,400.

Due to lingering concerns over any possible debris falling from the satellite, flights arriving at or departing from local airports were delayed from 12:10 p.m. until 12:54.

The ERBS was launched on Oct. 5, 1984, by the Space Shuttle Challenger and completed its mission in 2005.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]