Observing Salsa as it moves around Earth like an asteroid

On 8 September 2024, Salsa (Cluster 2), one of four satellites that make up ESA’s Cluster mission, will reenter Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area. Salsa’s orbit takes the satellite quite far out during each of its 2.5-day orbits. As it moves away from Earth to its apogee (farthest point) at around 130 000 km and then comes in close again, it moves in a similar fashion to near-Earth objects like asteroids in the vicinity of our planet. Its asteroid-like behaviour...