Rocket Lab’s disco ball satellite has plunged back to Earth — and some aren’t sad to see it go

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In January, US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab stealthily launched a small “disco ball” satellite into orbit as part of a cosmic art project aimed at inspiring people to come together and look up at the sky. But after just two months in space, the satellite — called the Humanity Star — has fallen back to Earth and burned up in the planet’s atmosphere. It brings a premature end to the probe’s life, which turned out to be more controversial than the company had hoped.

No satellite in lower Earth orbit lasts forever. Though objects in this region are technically in space, there’s still a very thin atmosphere as high as 300 miles up. So satellites in low orbits are constantly bombarded by small atmospheric particles that slowly nudge vehicles closer to Earth, until gravity snags them back to the planet. Satellites equipped with thrusters can correct for this effect as long as they have fuel. But eventually, they all must come down to burn up in the atmosphere.

The Humanity Star didn’t have thrusters, but its plunge wasn’t expected until nine months after launch, according to Rocket Lab. A couple days ago, satellite-tracking websites and even Rocket Lab’s own website showed that Humanity’s altitude was dropping fast, according to The Atlantic. So what gives? The company blames the premature end of the project on the satellite’s shape and weight. The Humanity Star is (or was) a three-foot-wide sphere comprised of 76 triangular panels, and it weighed just 18 pounds. That means it’s a small and lightweight satellite, with a large surface area. It’s a bit like a hollow ball, makin