Where is the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area (SPOUA) used for controlled re-entry disposal?
Answer
It is the remote, unpopulated area where craft are steered to crash
The South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, abbreviated as SPOUA, is designated as the preferred target zone for executing controlled re-entries of large or sensitive spacecraft components, such as spent rocket bodies or large operational satellites at their end-of-life. This protocol involves operators actively firing thrusters to guide the spacecraft's trajectory precisely toward this remote, sparsely populated region of the ocean. The purpose of controlling the descent is explicitly to mitigate the risk to human life and infrastructure on the ground, ensuring that any surviving dense components impact water rather than populated land masses.
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