Sending Samba farewell commands

Cluster’s flight control team, including Spacecraft Operations Manager Bruno Sousa, in the control room at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, as the team sent their last commands to Samba before it reentered Earth’s atmosphere on 31 August 2026.

The room features multiple workstations and large computer monitors displaying telemetry plots, status panels, and technical data. Bruno is seated at a console pointing toward a screen while several visitors observe from behind.