Checking in with Tango after command upload

On 19 January 2026, spacecraft operations engineer Beatriz Abascal Palacios checks if all is in order after a previous command upload to manoeuvre the Cluster satellite 4 or 'Tango'. 

On 8 September 2024, Salsa, the first of four satellites that made up ESA’s Cluster mission reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area. Salsa's ‘targeted reentry’ was the first of its kind, with Rumba following in November 2025 and the remaining Samba and Tango satellites now lined up for reentry in the summer of 2026. ESA’s efforts to ensure a clean end to the Cluster mission go beyond international standards, making the agency a world-leader in sustainable space exploration. 

Because a targeted reentry means the time and location of the reentry is know, it is possible to plan observations from an airplane and collect rare reentry data. In this case, to make an airborne observation campaign of both reentries 24 hours apart possible in the summer of 2026, multiple ESA teams came together to move the satellites Samba and Tango a little closer. Like for any manoeuvre, the flight dynamics team figured out exactly how they could manage to get the satellite's reentry locations closer together. Samba will now come down further east, as Tango comes down a bit more to the west to give the team on the plane enough time to fly back, refuel and recharge in between reentry events.

After the space debris team gave their green light that there would be no collisions to avoid, the flight control team took over. They sent the command to the satellites and the spacecraft executed the small burns on 19 and 20 January to adjust their trajectories as planned.