Failed Soviet spacecraft for exploring Venus fell to Earth: no one knows where

Intended to study Venus, the Soviet spacecraft Cosmos-482 entered the atmosphere and fell to Earth. It happened in the morning of May 10. 

The fall of Cosmos 482 in an artist’s impression. Source: ESA/David Ducross/CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Cosmos-482 was one of a pair of identical probes launched by the USSR in 1972 to land on Venus. The first vehicle left the vicinity of our planet and subsequently successfully completed its mission. In the official historiography, this mission entered under the designation “Venera-8”.

Its twin brother was less fortunate. It remained in Earth orbit due to a booster failure. Later, on command from Earth, the 500-kilogram descent capsule of the vehicle separated from the instrumentation and assembly compartment. It was designated Cosmos-482.

Assembly of the Venera-8 spacecraft. Source: Scientific production association named after Lavochkin

While the instrument and unit compartment of the Soviet station burned up rather quickly in the atmosphere, Cosmos-482 remained in orbit for more than half a century as a kind of relic of the space race era. But by 2025, its orbital altitude had dropped so low that a fall was imminent. Calculations showed that it would occur in the early days of May.

What made the situation particularly interesting was that the Cosmos-482 capsule was equipped with a heat shield. This meant it had a good chance of surviving reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. On the one hand, this increased the risks that the capsule could cause damage and even casualties if it fell in a residential area. On the other hand, the spacecraft, which spent more than half a century in space and then returned to Earth, was of considerable interest to historians and techno-archaeologists. 

As a result, Cosmos-482 entered the atmosphere in the morning of May 10. However, it is currently unknown where exactly the spacecraft fell. Most media rushed to announce that the crash occurred in the Indian Ocean 560 kilometers west of the island of Middle Andaman. However, these figures have been reported by Roscosmos and have no independent confirmation. According to ESA calculations, the fall should have taken place in Central Asia. And according to the U.S. military, it took place in the South Pacific in the area of the so-called graveyard of spacecraft.

Possible crash sites for the Cosmos-482 descent capsule. Source: Marco Langbroek

Indirect confirmation that the vehicle most likely really fell into the ocean is the lack of verified records of its re-entry. It indicates that the fall of Cosmos 482 occurred far from the coast and sea lanes.

In theory, if Cosmos-482 maintained proper orientation during the descent and did not collapse, it could have landed and not sunk because the descent capsule has positive buoyancy. In such a case, there is some possibility that it may be seen and picked up by some of the ships in the future. Most probably, the wreckage of Cosmos-482 rested on the seabed.

You can also read our selection of the most famous cases of uncontrolled falling space debris.

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