The spacecraft, stuck in orbit since 1972 after an unsuccessful mission to Venus, plunged into the Indian Ocean.

Kosmos 482 was launched by the then-Soviet Union in 1972 as part of a series of missions bound for Venus. But this one never made it out of orbit around Earth, stranded there by a rocket malfunction.

The Kosmos 482 spacecraft, a Soviet spacecraft that was launched in 1972 on a failed trip to Venus, fell back into Earth on Saturday morning, new report said.