"Increased solar radiation activity has enlarged the atmosphere, increasing the friction on the satellite. So it will come down earlier than expected," he says. But he can't say where in that date range the satellite is most likely to deorbit - it depends on fast-fluctuating atmospheric conditions. Heatproof optics mean much more of ROSAT's mass is expected to survive re-entry compared to the NASA UARS satellite that fell into the Pacific Ocean last month.

[link to www.newscientist.com]