Russia has reported that the Kosmos-482 spacecraft, launched by the Soviet Union in 1972 for Venus exploration, crashed into the Indian Ocean on 10 May.

Source: Roscosmos, the Russian state corporation responsible for space flights, cosmonaut programmes and aerospace research

Details: The spacecraft is reported to have entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 09:24 Moscow time, 560 km west of the Middle Andaman island, before crashing into the ocean west of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

"The Kosmos-482 spacecraft has ceased to exist, having left orbit and crashed into the Indian Ocean," Russia said.

Background: Earlier, media reports indicated that after 53 years, the Kosmos-482 spacecraft was returning to Earth and posed a potential danger, as it could crash into a densely populated area.

The 500 kg spacecraft was expected to reach a speed of several hundred kilometres per hour upon impact with the Earth.

The collision was anticipated to occur on 9 or 10 May.

For reference: The spacecraft was launched in 1972 to study Venus, but due to a malfunction of the upper stage, it remained in a high elliptical orbit around Earth and gradually drifted closer to the planet.

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