Out-of-fuel satellite incinerated as it entered atmosphere, officials say Officials at the European Space Agency said Monday that a 2,000-pound satellite that had been steadily sinking toward Earth after it ran out of fuel last month re-entered the atmosphere Sunday, and disintegrated. In a status report posted on the European Space Agency's website, scientists said the GOCE, or Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, re-entered Earth's atmosphere at 1:00 a.m. Central European Time Monday (7 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday) on a descending orbit pass that extended across Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica. "As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported," the report said. The agency earlier estimated on its website that about 25 percent of the spacecraft survived re-entry and has fallen into the ocean. GOCE had been orbiting Earth since March 2009 at the lowest altitude of any research satellite. The satellite was 17.4 feet long, according to the European Space Agency. The slim satellite was only 1/3 the weight of the truck, however.