Samsung's 'Space Selfie' Mission Ends Abruptly When Satellite Crashes Back to Earth, Lands in Michigan Couple's Garden

The "SpaceSelfie" satellite that Samsung launched has come to an abrupt end. Held at 65,000 feet by a massive balloon, it disastrously came crashing back down to earth, ending up on a Michigan couple’s land, apparently getting tangled in nearby power lines on its way down.

The SpaceSelfie campaign kicked off last week, with supermodel Cara Delevingne as the face of it. The initiative was to have Delevingne take and upload what would be “the world’s first selfie sent into space.” It’s said the image she took of herself was broadcast on a phone “attached to the satellite, re-captured using an onboard camera, and beamed back to Earth.”

Samsung is now reporting that weather conditions put a quick end to the mission. The satellite had to make an “early soft landing in a selected rural area” on Saturday. Samsung’s SpaceSelfie website was displaying an apology message, but now simply says "Mission Complete."

Nobody, nor any property, was injured as the satellite came crashing back down to earth. No doubt, it’s creating more media exposure than the project would receive had it all gone smoothly.

Samsung also tells Marketing Dive that the device managed to capture “tens of thousands of photos” from the stratosphere in the mere 24 hours that it was live.

Jack Alexander's picture

A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models.

Log in or register to post comments
13 Comments

High altitude balloon.

Yep, it's as much a satellite in space as a helium balloon stuck on the ceiling at a child's birthday party is a satellite in space...

C'mon, you have no imagination. It IS a satellite in space...

That area looks a bit bigger than a typical backyard.

All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others...

Was it a satellite or something attached to a balloon? A balloon at 65,000 ft is not in space. A satellite would orbit many times higher than this and weather conditions do not affect satellites. Any satellite falling back to Earth would be heavily damaged or destroyed on re-entry unless it was a powered re-entry.

And I read it three times and I still can't figure out what the hell was the point of this. "the image she took of herself was broadcast on a phone “attached to the satellite, re-captured using an onboard camera, and beamed back to Earth.” I thought that it was to be beamed into space. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

I am sure that there have been a lot of self photos sent into space. None of this makes any sense to me. So, maybe it's me.

I am with you. I cannot figure out what the plan was, but I am 99% sure it was stupid.

Not a satellite, not in space, not interesting.

What are the rules on "finders keepers" for an instance like this?

In this instance I would say that this entire contraption is mine if it landed in my yard. I am also suing Samsung for damaging my heritage grass and dried leaves, I think 2 mil in damages should cover it. PS no trespassing on my property Mr Sung.

Poor Samsung, between the Galaxy fold problems, and its marketing initiatives literally crashing to the ground...

Or it could be that Aliens are sick and tired of rubbish TV signals that this selfie shtick pushed them over the edge and zapped that balloon!

Is the location of the crash in Michigan a secret ?