The satellite Aalto-1 is set to end its seven-year orbit of the Earth, Aalto University has announced in a statement.
The satellite is expected to make its final pass over Finland on Monday, before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up almost entirely into ashes.
If the satellite re-enters the atmosphere at night, it may appear as a streak across the sky, resembling a shooting star.
It is a melancholic moment, admitted Jaan Praks, Professor of Space Technology at Aalto University, who has led the satellite project from the beginning.
"At the same time, I am happy because Aalto-1 will make room for many new Finnish satellites and will not remain in orbit as space debris," Praks said.
The Aalto-1 satellite, built by students at Aalto University, was launched into space aboard a rocket on Midsummer's Eve in 2017. It sent its first image back to Earth in July that same year, marking the first image ever captured by a Finnish satellite.
The satellite, roughly the size of a large milk carton and weighing about four kilograms, was designed to carry into orbit instruments developed at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Aalto-1 holds historical significance as it was one of the first Finnish objects to be registered in the international space registry when it launched in 2017. Finland now has dozens of satellites in space, the university noted in its statement.
A companion device, the Aalto-2, began its voyage into space slightly earlier and burned up upon re-entry in 2019.
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