NASA’s 1,300-lb Van Allen Probe A to reenter, fall to Earth within hours
Illustration of twin Van Allen Probes (JHU/APL, NASA)
Nearly 14 years after launch, NASA’s 1,323-pound Van Allen Probe A is set to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere Tuesday evening, with most of the spacecraft expected to burn up as it plunges back to Earth.
Timeline:
As of March 9, 2026, the U.S. Space Force forecasts the roughly 1,323-pound spacecraft will re-enter the atmosphere around 7:45 p.m. EDT on March 10, with a margin of error of plus or minus 24 hours.
Why you should care:
NASA expects most of the spacecraft to disintegrate during re-entry, though some pieces could survive.
The risk to people on the ground is considered low — about 1 in 4,200. NASA and the Space Force will continue tracking the spacecraft and refining their predictions.
RELATED: Dangerous asteroid no longer expected to hit the moon
NASA delays Artemis II mission after hydrogen leak
NASA is now targeting March for the earliest possible launch of its historic Artemis II lunar moon mission after a hydrogen leak was discovered during a dress rehearsal. NASA releasing this statement: "With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges."
The backstory:
Originally built for a two-year mission, the Van Allen Probes A and B launched in August 2012 and spent nearly seven years collecting groundbreaking data inside Earth’s radiation belts — a region most spacecraft avoid because of intense radiation.
Managed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, the mission led to major discoveries, including the first evidence of a temporary third radiation belt that forms during heightened solar activity.
RELATED: Inside the icy Hudson River landing that instructor and teen survived
When the mission ended in 2019 after the spacecraft ran out of fuel, analysts predicted re-entry in 2034. But a more active-than-expected solar cycle, confirmed to have reached solar maximum in 2024, increased atmospheric drag and accelerated the timeline.
The probes’ data continues to help scientists better understand space weather and protect satellites, astronauts and critical systems on Earth.
What's next:
Van Allen Probe B, the twin spacecraft, is not expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere until at least 2030.
The Source: The information in this story comes primarily from NASA and the U.S. Space Force. This story was reported from Los Angeles.