Disco is long dead, and a disco ball-like satellite will soon join it.

The shiny, multi-faceted, orb-like satellite, dubbed “Humanity Star,” is expected to plummet back to Earth and burn up sometime Thursday, approximately six months earlier than originally intended.

The satellite was launched into orbit from New Zealand in January, with no purpose other than to shine brightly for any person who cared to look up at the night sky. Designer Peter Beck said in a statement that it’s meant to get people to “think a little differently about their lives, actions and what is important to humanity.”

The hollow, metre-wide object is made of carbon fibre and covered in 76 reflective panels, which are designed to create a blinking effect visible to the naked eye at night.

But those days of reflection are over, as the satellite appears to be coming down early due to a miscalculation with the original launch. Experts say a satellite of the Humanity Star’s size usually weighs much more, but its designers failed to account for its lighter load when they mapped out its flight path. Atmospheric drag has been stronger than expected as a result, and the satellite has been falling out of orbit quite rapidly in recent days.

“Based on the current rate at which its altitude is dropping, the Humanity Star is predicted to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, March 22,” the satellite’s website says.

Beck says the satellite will burn up “without a trace” upon re-entry.

Just after 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday, it was zipping 280 km above the Canadian Rockies at nearly 28,000 km/h.