Pieces Of Galileo Satellite Booster Being Stored By Towing Company In Lauderdale Lakes

Some folks walking on a beach in south Florida came upon something the didn't quite expect about midnight Sunday; a piece of an ESA rocket booster that had washed up on the sand.

That debris is now being stored by Waterway Towing in Lauderdale Lakes, where an FAA team is expected to eventually inspect the debris.

The NTSB told television station WPLG that the debris was not from a crash, which means that they would not have any reason to look at the parts.

Fort Lauderdale police said that the debris is likely part of a booster that sent multiple European satellites for the Galileo constellation into orbit from ESA's launch site in French Guiana. Galileo is a European satellite-based navigation system. The most recent Galileo launch was in March this year, but officials say that the debris could be from an earlier launch, and may have been in the ocean for over a year.

For now, the debris, which the station showed on its website in a video distinctively marked with the ESA logo, will sit in Lauderdale Lakes awaiting the arrival of the FAA.

FMI: www.faa.gov