Russia—Totally Burned Up (Satellite)

[SatNews] RIA Novosti is now reporting that a wayward Russian military satellite completely burned up in the atmosphere and did not crash in northwestern China, contrary to previous reports, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Anna Vedishcheva said the satellite, designed to help precisely locate military targets, had entered the atmosphere around 6:00 p.m. Moscow time the day before and then “ceased to exist,” having “burned up completely.”

Earlier media reports said the Geo-IK-2 satellite, which failed to respond to commands in early 2011 due to power loss and was located months later in a different orbit, crashed in China’s Qinghai Province.

For more information, follow this direct link to an additional RIA Novosti story regarding this satellite.