Samba's reentry recorded

Following its targeted reentry on 31 August, Samba (Cluster II FM-7), the third of ESA's four Cluster satellites, was successfully observed by the ROSIE airborne mission 2026. The ROSIE reentry observation team acquired the image with a Nikon Z8 camera operated by University of Stuttgart (HEFDiG). 

Samba reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 21:39:38 UTC / 23:39:38 CEST as the third of the four Cluster satellites. Samba had been specially lined up for a targeted reentry safely over the South Pacific Ocean, with the precision so high that a plane could fly out from Tonga and successfully record its demise for reentry science.  

Following the first Cluster plane campaign observing Salsa’s reentry in 2024, there were lessons learned that helped improve the data collection this time around. The ROSIE team managed to get over 50 seconds of footage with this camera, one of several so-called tracking cameras. Also, instead of just observing a few of the brightest fragments, this time dozens of fragments can clearly be seen streaking across the sky.  

The tracking camera was used to confirm that Samba was exactly where it was supposed to be. It shows the surroundings, providing context such as the state of fragmentation and relative positioning of the fragments. Tracking camera images are complemented by other instruments that look for the presence of specific materials in the same field of view.  

This then helps scientists identify which part of the spacecraft they are looking on their quest to understand how satellites demise exactly.