The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer -- a European Space Agency satellite known shorthand as GOCE -- had fallen to an altitude of about 126 kilometers (80 miles) by Sunday evening, the ESA reported. It's now expected to plunge into the atmosphere and break up sometime between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. ET, the ESA said.
"The most probable impact ground swath largely runsover ocean and polar regions," the space agency noted on its website. "With a very high probability, a re-entry over Europe can be excluded.
"GOCE's orbit can be tracked via an ESA website.
The 5-meter (16-foot) satellite was launched in 2009 to map variations in the Earth's gravity in 3-D, provideocean circulation patterns and make other measurements. Powered by solar panels and not-your-average lithium-ion battery, it lasted more than three times its expected lifespan before running out of juice on October 21.
In March 2011, the ESA added another role -- as the"first seismometer in orbit" -- when GOCE detected sound waves from the massive earthquake that struckJapan.
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