MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A decommissioned Chinese satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere late Saturday night, producing a fireball over portions of the Southern United States, including over Memphis.
Astronomers say the GaoJing/SuperView-1 02 satellite, launched from China in 2016 and decommissioned nearly two years ago, re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over New Orleans just after 10 p.m. Saturday night, December 21.
The satellite quickly burnt up as it passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and continued northward, leading to a bright, streaking fireball seen over several southern states…