/nAnticipated and Recent Re-entries - eventually air drag, gravity or retro-fire mean that a spacecraft or satellite is no longer able to stay in orbit. It re-enters the atmosphere to be destroyed or make a safe landing.
Orbital Focus - International Spaceflight Facts and Figures
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Launches and Orbital Operations


Nottinghamshire, UK
2026 Sep 30
Wednesday, Day 273

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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    2020-088AStarlink 17772026 Sep 282026 Sep 25
44772    2019-074BMStarlink2026 Sep 282026 Sep 28
53480    2022-099RStarlink 44422026 Sep 282026 Sep 28
53152    2022-083WStarlink 40452026 Sep 282026 Sep 24
20861    1990-081ZCZ 4 debris2026 Sep 292026 Sep 23
42145    1981-053RHCosmos 1275 debris2026 Sep 292026 Sep 23
43879    2018-111DiSat2026 Sep 292026 Sep 23
23966    1988-098FAriane 2 debris2026 Sep 292026 Sep 29
49442    2021-104ALStarlink 30982026 Sep 302026 Sep 23
61486    2024-140AAUCZ 6A debris2026 Sep 302026 Sep 23
64243    2025-119LStarlink 116942026 Sep 302026 Sep 16
53505    2022-099ASStarlink 44462026 Sep 302026 Sep 28
53891    2022-119FStarlink 50412026 Oct 12026 Sep 16
45670    2020-035PStarlink 14532026 Oct 12026 Sep 28
53490    2022-099ABStarlink 43872026 Oct 12026 Sep 27
46725    2020-073BHStarlink 18282026 Oct 12026 Sep 27
45665    2020-035JStarlink 14482026 Oct 12026 Sep 28
32185    1999-025CUFFengyun 1C debris2026 Oct 22026 Sep 23
53206    2022-084TStarlink 44082026 Oct 22026 Sep 16
53649    2022-105BStarlink 43862026 Oct 22026 Sep 16
53740    2022-107ASStarlink 46072026 Oct 22026 Sep 16
47993    2021-024SStarlink 22732026 Oct 22026 Sep 28
49158    2021-082AEStarlink 30832026 Oct 22026 Sep 28
47767    2021-017AXStarlink 21852026 Oct 22026 Sep 28
54776    2022-175UStarlink 54702026 Oct 22026 Sep 29
53499    2022-099ALStarlink 44542026 Oct 32026 Sep 16
45408    2020-019BAStarlink 12782026 Oct 32026 Sep 29
47143    2020-088XStarlink 18562026 Oct 42026 Sep 16
59322    2024-057CStarlink 315302026 Oct 42026 Sep 16
46537    2020-070FStarlink 16722026 Oct 52026 Sep 23
59313    2024-056TStarlink 314952026 Oct 52026 Sep 23
49139    2021-082KStarlink 30572026 Oct 62026 Sep 16
20327    1977-121BYCosmos 970 debris *2026 Oct 72026 Sep 23
27153    2001-049CZPSLV debris2026 Oct 72026 Sep 16
52989    2022-076DStarlink 42932026 Oct 72026 Sep 23
66377    2025-255Bdebris2026 Oct 72026 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 12026 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 116942026 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 310272026 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 310792026 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 44422026 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 40452026 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 30692026 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
Starlink2026 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   2026-217BElectron second stage2026 Sep 28
69571   2026-136BCZ 3B fourth stage2026 Sep 27
47122   2020-088AStarlink 17772026 Sep 27
53152   2022-083WStarlink 40452026 Sep 27
100142   2026-165SSoyuz third stage2026 Sep 27
100245   2026-180CElectron second stage2026 Sep 26
49176   2021-082AYStarlink 30692026 Sep 25
64243   2025-119LStarlink 116942026 Sep 25
69792   2026-152ALink 12026 Sep 25
58598   2023-200KStarlink 310792026 Sep 23
58720   2024-002RStarlink 310272026 Sep 23
100683   2026-207BElectron third stage2026 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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