ESA SPACE
On This Day in Space: Europe's GOCE 'Ferrari of Space' Satellite Deorbited
Remembering the November 10, 2013 re-entry of ESA's GOCE satellite after successfully mapping Earth's gravitational field.
Marking a significant milestone in Earth observation history, the European Space Agency's GOCE satellite—affectionately dubbed the 'Ferrari of space'—re-entered Earth's atmosphere on November 10, 2013, after running out of fuel.
Launched in 2009 to map Earth's gravity field and steady-state ocean circulation with unprecedented accuracy, GOCE vastly outlived its initial design expectations. Upon fuel depletion, the streamlined spacecraft broke up harmlessly in the upper atmosphere about 50 miles above the Falkland Islands, concluding one of the most successful geodesy missions in space history.