Late Friday, NASA put out a statement indicating that the satellite's orbit was taking it as close as 90 miles to the Earth and re-entry was expected around midnight or early Saturday Eastern Daylight Time.

WSJ: Falling Satellite Debris Might Hit U.S.

Although the predicted distance between the debris and the satellite seemed to preclude a collision, the fact that the close approach happened within 10 seconds of the change in orbit made the Feng Yun 1C debris the likely culprit, Kelso wrote in a blog post.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS