MEMPHIS, Tenn. — What’s believed to be a decommissioned satellite re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere was seen burning up the sky Saturday night.
Nexstar’s WREG received multiple videos of the astronomical event:
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell said that the GaoJing/SuperView-1 02 satellite was originally launched in China in 2016. After almost two years, the satellite was decommissioned.
It reportedly re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere just before 10 p.m.
The World Meteorological Organization says the satellite was owned by a private Chinese company and was used for high-resolution land observation.
In videos, the satellite could be seen burning up as it passed through the atmosphere and as it traveled, it became a fireball that could be seen in Tennessee, Arkansas and other southern states.
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