A bright fireball spotted in the skies over Missouri and Arkansas over the weekend has been identified as a decommissioned satellite.

 

Astronomers say the satellite was launched by China in 2016 and decommissioned two years ago. It re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over New Orleans just after 10pm on Saturday night.

 

NASA says there are several old satellites unused, but still in orbit that will eventually fall back to Earth each year. Most of it will burn up as it falls through the atmosphere, leading to little risk to those on the ground.

 

This particular satellite was apparently operated by a private Chinese company.