/nUpcoming and Recent Decays and 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


Tyneside, UK
2023 Jun 4
Sunday, Day 155

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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.

Most 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 a landing.

NOTE - Names used here are as used by Space-Track rather than the more-descriptive ones in the Orbital Focus tables.


Anticipated Re-entries

Information comes from Space-Track. Most entries are from the 60-day decay prediction messages that are updated each week on Thursday at about 01:00 UTC. If the re-entry date has already passed then you might find the object is also in the actual re-entry list further down the page.

Below are re-entries expected over the next few weeks. The table includes only natural re-entries of satellites and rocket bodies. It excludes debris items and planned events like a Soyuz, Shenzhou or Dragon spacecraft returning from space station duties.

Cat No Designation Name
(SpaceTrack)
Predicted
Date UTC
Prediction
Issued UTC
45575    2020-025AWSTARLINK-13262023 Jun 32023 Jun 3
46303    2020-061AHSPACEBEE-192023 Jun 42023 May 18
47433    2021-006WSPACEBEE-602023 Jun 42023 Jun 1
55125    1998-067USLORIS2023 Jun 42023 May 18
55711    2023-026SSTARLINK-300482023 Jun 42023 Jun 4
43739    2018-096WPSLV R/B2023 Jun 52023 May 18
46346    2020-062XSTARLINK-15462023 Jun 52023 Jun 2
47310    2021-002BPOLARCUBE2023 Jun 62023 Jun 1
47431    2021-006USPACEBEE-612023 Jun 62023 Jun 1
51001    2022-002TFOSSASAT2E52023 Jun 62023 May 18
52714    2022-054BSL-4 R/B2023 Jun 62023 Jun 4
47316    2021-002HLAUNCHERONE R/B2023 Jun 72023 Jun 4
48637    2021-006FDSPACEBEE-752023 Jun 82023 May 18
55446    2023-014BHEBAD TEST MASS2023 Jun 82023 Jun 1
41333    2016-009BUNHA 3 R/B2023 Jun 92023 May 25
55703    2023-026JSTARLINK-300442023 Jun 92023 May 25
46573    2020-070ATSTARLINK-16502023 Jun 122023 May 11
47432    2021-006VSPACEBEE-492023 Jun 122023 Jun 1
44738    2019-074ABSTARLINK-10332023 Jun 142023 May 25
46300    2020-061AESPACEBEE-212023 Jun 142023 Jun 1
46301    2020-061AFSPACEBEE-202023 Jun 152023 Jun 1
46560    2020-070AESTARLINK-17062023 Jun 152023 May 25
47314    2021-002FMITEE 12023 Jun 152023 Jun 1
47443    2021-006AGSPACEBEE-502023 Jun 152023 Jun 1
52323    2022-043DCZ-2C R/B2023 Jun 202023 Jun 1
44417    2019-022GRFTSAT2023 Jun 242023 Jun 1
43101    2018-002CCZ-2D R/B2023 Jun 272023 Jun 1
45208    2020-012AGSTARLINK-12112023 Jun 282023 May 25
50985    2022-002BFOSSASAT2E12023 Jun 282023 Jun 1
50984    2022-002AFOSSASAT2E22023 Jun 292023 Jun 1
44226    2019-026BSPARC-12023 Jul 12023 Jun 1
39434    2013-066UDOVE 42023 Jul 42023 Jun 1
55564    2023-019CJANUS-12023 Jul 42023 May 25


Recent TIP Messages

Publication of TIP messages is not a matter of routine and they are not issued for all re-entries. They are more up to date and more precise than entries in the table and take precedence over them.

Readers unfamiliar with how to interpret TIP messages 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 moved from the 'Anticipated' list to the 'Recent' list.

Orbital Focus shows the predicted impact point only when the Window is less than about one quarter orbit. Even then it represents as much as +/-9000 km.

Table created: 2023 Jun 4, 10:47 UTC

Cat No &
Designation
Name
(Space-Track)
Predicted
Date & Time UTC
Lat, Long & Heading
(10 km altitude)
TIP Message
Issued UTC
55711
2023-026S
STARLINK-300482023 Jun 4 09:24
± 120 minutes
2023 Jun 4 03:00
52714
2022-054B
SL-4 R/B2023 Jun 6 06:16
± 600 minutes
2023 Jun 4 05:47
47316
2021-002H
LAUNCHERONE R/B2023 Jun 7 02:23
± 900 minutes
2023 Jun 4 01:53
46346
2020-062X
STARLINK-15462023 Jun 5 22:21
± 900 minutes
2023 Jun 2 21:51
45575
2020-025AW
STARLINK-13262023 Jun 3 12:21
± 1 minutes
11°.7 south, 123°.4 east
northbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2023 Jun 3 14:26
45051
2020-006H
STARLINK-11412023 May 30 10:28
± 1 minutes
36°.1 north, 155°.2 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2023 May 30 15:48
43739
2018-096W
PSLV R/B2023 Jun 1 19:44
± 120 minutes
2023 Jun 1 13:19


Recent Re-entries

This table is extracted from Space-Track's Catalogue and lists major re-entries that occurred in the last 30 days, whether natural or deliberate. The list is updated every few hours.


Cat No Designation Name (SpaceTrack) Date UTC
 
43721   2018-096CFACSAT-12023 Jun 3
47433   2021-006WSPACEBEE-602023 Jun 3
48637   2021-006FDSPACEBEE-752023 Jun 3
51001   2022-002TFOSSASAT2E52023 Jun 3
54040   2022-132FOBJECT F2023 Jun 3
55125   1998-067USLORIS2023 Jun 3
43739   2018-096WPSLV R/B2023 Jun 1
42787   2017-036YNUDTSAT2023 May 31
43136   2018-004ABOBJECT AB2023 May 31
45123   2019-071NOBJECT N2023 May 31
46303   2020-061AHSPACEBEE-192023 May 31
54536   1998-067UNTAKA2023 May 31
56739   2023-070AAXIOM-22023 May 31
45051   2020-006HSTARLINK-11412023 May 30
44494   2019-053BCZ-3B R/B2023 May 27
55328   2023-011EELECTRON R/B2023 May 27
56741   2023-071BSL-4 R/B2023 May 26
41843   2016-066CPINA 2A2023 May 25
41997   2017-008BBLEMUR 2 NOGUECORREIG2023 May 25
46304   2020-061AJSPACEBEE-182023 May 25
48636   2021-006FCSPACEBEE-742023 May 25
41994   2017-008AYLEMUR 2 SMITA-SHARAD2023 May 23
43138   2018-004ADSTEP CUBE LAB2023 May 23
43737   2018-096UCICERO 82023 May 23
47468   2021-006BHSPACEBEE-562023 May 23
25616   1999-002AROCSAT 12023 May 22
54382   2022-163BSL-4 R/B2023 May 22
51817   2022-017BBSTARLINK-35962023 May 21
56447   2023-063BCZ-7 R/B2023 May 21
41620   2016-040XPSLV R/B2023 May 19
45086   2020-006AUSTARLINK-11812023 May 18
41992   2017-008AWLEMUR 2 SPIRE-MINIONS2023 May 17
44082   2019-018EFLOCK 4A 42023 May 17
44098   2019-018WFLOCK 4A 92023 May 16
44099   2019-018XFLOCK 4A 162023 May 16
44367   2019-037CGLOBAL-32023 May 16
44484   2019-022CAEROCUBE 10B (DOUGSAT)2023 May 16
44811   2019-081HFLOCK 4P 42023 May 16
46306   2020-061ALSPACEBEE-172023 May 16
48635   2021-006FBSPACEBEE-732023 May 16
50987   2022-002DFOSSASAT2E42023 May 16
54534   1998-067ULSPACETUNA12023 May 16
54537   1998-067UPZIMSAT-12023 May 16
49816   2021-117EJINZIJING 5 (GB 5)2023 May 15
49494   2021-108AASTRA SATELLITE 000012023 May 14
44742   2019-074AFSTARLINK-10372023 May 13
53945   2022-120CCZ-2D R/B2023 May 13
55696   2023-026BSTARLINK-300382023 May 12
46308   2020-061ANSPACEBEE-162023 May 11
47470   2021-006BKSPACEBEE-452023 May 11
49506   2021-114BCZ-3B R/B2023 May 10
54231   2022-148BCZ-3B R/B2023 May 10
56286   2023-056ASTARLINK-300962023 May 10
43124   2018-004PLEMUR 2 PETERWEBSTER2023 May 9
44101   2019-018ZFLOCK 4A 142023 May 9
47466   2021-006BFSPACEBEE-442023 May 9
48634   2021-006FASPACEBEE-722023 May 9
55181   1998-067UYSS-12023 May 9
53357   2022-093APRC TEST SPACECRAFT22023 May 8
54218   2022-093JOBJECT J2023 May 8
44092   2019-018QFLOCK 4A 82023 May 6


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 'Tracking and Impact Prediction'.

The message includes an estimated latitude and longitude for when the object will go through a height of 10 kilometres (definition - Space-Track) above the ground based on the estimated time. 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 most cases, the location is meaningless 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) that is also part of the message. 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.


Page information updated as available

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