Re-Entry: Flock 2B-8

Photo: NASA
Photo: NASA

Planet Labs’ Flock 2B-8 satellite re-entered the atmosphere on May 22, 2016 after half a year in orbit, collecting Earth imagery that Planet Labs offers on the commercial market.

NORAD ID: 40957
Object: Flock-1 CubeSat, 3U
Mass: ~3kg
Released from ISS: October 6, 2015 – 11:45 UTC
Origin: USA
Inclination: 51.6°

Re-Entry Prediction: May 22, 2016 – 07:51 UTC +/- 17 Minutes
Re-Entry Zone: Unknown

Satellite Description: Flock-1 represents a constellation of three-unit CubeSats operated by Planet Labs to build an Earth-observation constellation based on CubeSats. The satellites were first released from ISS in February 2014 to start orbiting Earth for several months, acquiring images of chosen ground targets.

>>Flock Satellite & Constellation Page

Re-Entry Orbit
Image: Spaceflight101/Orbitron
Image: Spaceflight101/Orbitron