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| Feeling the Heat!
Air drag and, sometimes, gravitational effects cause satellites to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Occasionally, re-entry is caused by a deliberate decision of a satellite owner to fire a retro-rocket and bring some part of a space vehicle back to Earth.
The majority of re-entries result in the vehicle being destroyed by frictional heating as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. Some fragments may get through and hit the Earth's surface - hence the system of TIP messages to warn of the event. Only a space vehicle fitted with a heat shield will get through the atmosphere for an actual landing.
Anticipated Re-entries
Information comes from Space-Track. Most entries are from the '60-day' decay prediction messages. If the re-entry date has already passed then you might find the object is also in the Recent Re-entries list further down the page.
Below are re-entries expected over the next days. The list includes only natural re-entries and it excludes planned events such as a Soyuz, Shenzhou or Dragon spacecraft returning from space station duties.
Table created: 2026 Sep 29, 06:03 UTC
| Cat No |
Designation |
Name (SpaceTrack) |
Predicted Date UTC |
Prediction Issued UTC |
| 47122 | 2020-088A | Starlink 1777 | 2026 Sep 28 | 2026 Sep 25 | | 44772 | 2019-074BM | Starlink | 2026 Sep 28 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 53480 | 2022-099R | Starlink 4442 | 2026 Sep 28 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 53152 | 2022-083W | Starlink 4045 | 2026 Sep 28 | 2026 Sep 24 | | 20861 | 1990-081Z | CZ 4 debris | 2026 Sep 29 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 42145 | 1981-053RH | Cosmos 1275 debris | 2026 Sep 29 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 43879 | 2018-111D | iSat | 2026 Sep 29 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 23966 | 1988-098F | Ariane 2 debris | 2026 Sep 29 | 2026 Sep 29 | | 49442 | 2021-104AL | Starlink 3098 | 2026 Sep 30 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 61486 | 2024-140AAU | CZ 6A debris | 2026 Sep 30 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 64243 | 2025-119L | Starlink 11694 | 2026 Sep 30 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 53505 | 2022-099AS | Starlink 4446 | 2026 Sep 30 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 53891 | 2022-119F | Starlink 5041 | 2026 Oct 1 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 45670 | 2020-035P | Starlink 1453 | 2026 Oct 1 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 53490 | 2022-099AB | Starlink 4387 | 2026 Oct 1 | 2026 Sep 27 | | 46725 | 2020-073BH | Starlink 1828 | 2026 Oct 1 | 2026 Sep 27 | | 45665 | 2020-035J | Starlink 1448 | 2026 Oct 1 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 32185 | 1999-025CUF | Fengyun 1C debris | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 53206 | 2022-084T | Starlink 4408 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 53649 | 2022-105B | Starlink 4386 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 53740 | 2022-107AS | Starlink 4607 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 47993 | 2021-024S | Starlink 2273 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 49158 | 2021-082AE | Starlink 3083 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 47767 | 2021-017AX | Starlink 2185 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 28 | | 54776 | 2022-175U | Starlink 5470 | 2026 Oct 2 | 2026 Sep 29 | | 53499 | 2022-099AL | Starlink 4454 | 2026 Oct 3 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 45408 | 2020-019BA | Starlink 1278 | 2026 Oct 3 | 2026 Sep 29 | | 47143 | 2020-088X | Starlink 1856 | 2026 Oct 4 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 59322 | 2024-057C | Starlink 31530 | 2026 Oct 4 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 46537 | 2020-070F | Starlink 1672 | 2026 Oct 5 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 59313 | 2024-056T | Starlink 31495 | 2026 Oct 5 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 49139 | 2021-082K | Starlink 3057 | 2026 Oct 6 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 20327 | 1977-121BY | Cosmos 970 debris * | 2026 Oct 7 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 27153 | 2001-049CZ | PSLV debris | 2026 Oct 7 | 2026 Sep 16 | | 52989 | 2022-076D | Starlink 4293 | 2026 Oct 7 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 66377 | 2025-255B | debris | 2026 Oct 7 | 2026 Sep 16 |
Recent TIP Messages
TIP messages are not a matter of routine and are not issued for all re-entries. They are more up to date and more precise than the Recent Re-entries list.
If you are unfamiliar with how to interpret TIP messages, you are recommended to read the Note at the bottom of the page.
Sometimes there may be a delay between the final TIP message and the re-entry being formally logged in Space-Track's Catalogue so a Message here may relate to a re-entry that has not yet entered the 'Recent' list.
Here is a list of TIP messages where the Window is less than about one quarter orbit. Even then it represents as much as ±9000 km of ground track. Where the window is ±1 minute, the re-entry signature was probably registered by a detector carried on a specialised 'space awareness' satellite.
Table created: 2026 Sep 29, 06:03 UTC
Cat No & Designation |
Name |
Terminal Date & Time UTC |
Lat, Long & Heading (10 km altitude) |
TIP Message Issued UTC |
69792 2026-152A | Link 1 | 2026 Sep 24 14:38 ± 2 minute(s) | 19°.4 south, 162°.8 west southbound, ± 0.02 orbits | 2026 Sep 26 00:14 | 64243 2025-119L | Starlink 11694 | 2026 Sep 25 10:17 ± 1 minute(s) | 9°.6 south, 97°.7 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 25 14:24 | 58720 2024-002R | Starlink 31027 | 2026 Sep 22 12:14 ± 1 minute(s) | 51°.9 south, 38°.3 east southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 22 17:32 | 58598 2023-200K | Starlink 31079 | 2026 Sep 23 00:28 ± 1 minute(s) | 5°.9 north, 155°.2 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 23 10:34 | 53480 2022-099R | Starlink 4442 | 2026 Sep 28 13:41 ± 1 minute(s) | 15°.1 south, 164°.5 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 28 16:57 | 53152 2022-083W | Starlink 4045 | 2026 Sep 27 13:30 ± 1 minute(s) | 0°.1 north, 113°.7 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 27 19:07 | 49176 2021-082AY | Starlink 3069 | 2026 Sep 25 12:27 ± 1 minute(s) | 53°.1 south, 135°.1 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 25 15:31 | 44772 2019-074BM | Starlink | 2026 Sep 28 12:27 ± 1 minute(s) | 4°.8 north, 136°.4 west southbound, ± 0.01 orbits | 2026 Sep 28 16:57 |
Recent Re-entries
This table is extracted from Space-Track's Catalogue and lists re-entries that occurred in the last 30 days, whether natural or deliberate. Sometimes the date shown indicates when the object was noticed as 'missing from orbit', re-entry may actually have occurred at least one day earlier.
Table created: 2026 Sep 29, 06:03 UTC
| Cat No |
Designation |
Name |
Date UTC |
| 100747 | 2026-217B | Electron second stage | 2026 Sep 28 | | 69571 | 2026-136B | CZ 3B fourth stage | 2026 Sep 27 | | 47122 | 2020-088A | Starlink 1777 | 2026 Sep 27 | | 53152 | 2022-083W | Starlink 4045 | 2026 Sep 27 | | 100142 | 2026-165S | Soyuz third stage | 2026 Sep 27 | | 100245 | 2026-180C | Electron second stage | 2026 Sep 26 | | 49176 | 2021-082AY | Starlink 3069 | 2026 Sep 25 | | 64243 | 2025-119L | Starlink 11694 | 2026 Sep 25 | | 69792 | 2026-152A | Link 1 | 2026 Sep 25 | | 58598 | 2023-200K | Starlink 31079 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 58720 | 2024-002R | Starlink 31027 | 2026 Sep 23 | | 100683 | 2026-207B | Electron third stage | 2026 Sep 22 |
Note on TIP Messages
Close to re-entry time for many objects, SpaceTrack issues TIP Messages with a more-precise warning of the event. The meaning of the TIP acronym is lost in the mists of time so Space-Track has re-invented it as 'Tracking and Impact Prediction'.
The message includes an estimated time, latitude and longitude for when the object will go through a height of 10 kilometres (definition - Space-Track) above the ground. It is a rough indication of the start point of the ellipse within which debris might fall given that horizontal velocity will have reduced to near-zero because of air resistance. In some cases, the location is imprecise in practical terms because the window included in the message covers a long track across the Earth's surface.
TIP Messages are often a source of confusion as people take the predicted time literally and ignore the error margin (Window). In 2011 RIA-Novosti used a TIP Message, issued several weeks in advance, to pinpoint a village in North Africa, doggedly insisting that it would feel the full force of of Phobos-Grunt’s re-entry. SpaceTrack's Window was ±2 days, representing over one million kilometres of ground track and a large proportion of the Earth's surface between 52° North and 52° South.
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