Phobos-Grunt’s return to Earth is being monitored by dozens of organisations,
including the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordinating Committee, an offshoot
of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The
panel includes representatives from 12 space agencies, including Nasa,
Russia and China.
The spacecraft is the third large satellite to return to Earth since
September, when Nasa’s defunct Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell out
of orbit, showering debris into the Pacific Ocean. Germany’s Rosat X-ray
telescope re-entered a month later over the Bay of Bengal