Re-Entry: Flock 2E’-12

Photo: NASA

Planet’s Flock 2E’-12 Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on February 28, 2018 – decaying 20 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

NORAD ID: 41578
Object: Flock-2 CubeSat, 3U
Mass: ~4.5kg
Released from ISS: June 2, 2016 – 02:15 UTC
Origin: USA
Inclination: 51.6°

Re-Entry Prediction: February 28, 2018 – 20:11 UTC +/- 52 Minutes
Re-Entry Zone: Unknown

Satellite Description: Flock 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