The satellite re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the open ocean; It is unclear whether the debris has surfaced. A dead European satellite crashed into Earth today, ending its nearly 30-year space life.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Remote Sensing Satellite 2 (ERS-2) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean at 12:15 EST (17:15 GMT). The crash ended a nearly 13-year deorbiting campaign that began in July 2011 when 66 engines burned out and the spacecraft ran out of remaining fuel.

“We have received confirmation that ERS-2 re-entered over the North Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaii at 17:17 UTC (18:17 CET) +/- 1 minute away,” ESA operator X said, with coordinates on Google Maps. The satellite fell to Earth.

It is unclear whether any debris floated to the surface after ERS-2 re-entered the atmosphere, but none of the fragments contained toxic or radioactive material, ESA told the public in an FAQ published before the re-entry.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell released the re-entry track of satellite X, which shows the location of the debris trail recorded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) radar systems.

ERS-2 was approximately the size of a school bus and weighed 5,547 pounds (2,516 kilograms) when fueled for launch. His weight today was approximately 5,057 pounds (2,294 kg) when he died of a fever, completely exhausted. Although the mass of the satellite is quite large, this is no exception when it comes to space debris. An object of similar size falls into Earth’s atmosphere every few weeks.

In its reentry FAQ, ESA wrote that at the time of launch, ERS-2 “was the most advanced Earth observation spacecraft ever developed and launched in Europe.” The satellite is designed to collect data about Earth’s land, glaciers and oceans and even help monitor the effects of natural disasters.

“ERS satellites have provided a stream of data that has transformed our understanding of the world we live in,” Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Earth observation programs director, said in a statement. “They have given us new insights into our planet, the chemical composition of our atmosphere, the behavior of our oceans and the impact of human activities on our environment, creating new opportunities for scientific research and applications.”

ERS-2 crashed into Earth in a sequence known as a “natural entry”; This means flight controllers have no way of maneuvering or otherwise controlling the satellite during its descent into the atmosphere. Its batteries were exhausted before re-entry, and all electronic systems were shut down long before it began its fiery descent.

ESA officials said such re-entry is completely safe, even if some debris sometimes reaches the ground.

“Over the course of 67 years of spaceflight, thousands of tons of artificial space objects have re-entered the atmosphere. The statement noted that fragments reaching the surface very rarely caused any damage, and there were no confirmed reports of any human injuries.”

While any “natural” reentry like this could throw debris onto the Earth’s surface, any debris left behind is incredibly unlikely to harm people or property on the ground. ESA’s reentry FAQ states that the chance of being struck by lightning is 65,000 times greater than the lifetime risk of being struck by space debris.

ESA says the chance of space debris falling each year hitting any human is 1 in 100 billion.