/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


Tyneside, UK
2025 May 16
Friday, Day 136

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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. 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.

Table created: 2025 May 16, 06:48 UTC

Cat No Designation Name
(SpaceTrack)
Predicted
Date UTC
Prediction
Issued UTC
56798    2023-078AHSTARLINK-60682025 May 142025 May 14
45566    2020-025AMSTARLINK-13582025 May 142025 May 10
40108    2014-046BFALCON 9 R/B2025 May 142025 May 15
56755    2023-073DELECTRON R/B2025 May 142025 May 15
45075    2020-006AHSTARLINK-11742025 May 142025 May 10
56752    2023-073AELECTRON KICK STAGE R/B2025 May 152025 May 8
45745    2020-038RSTARLINK-15032025 May 152025 May 15
53211    2022-084YSTARLINK-44192025 May 152025 May 14
47561    2021-009PSTARLINK-19602025 May 152025 May 16
54171    2022-141QSTARLINK-52292025 May 162025 May 15
43115    2018-004ECARBONITE 22025 May 172025 May 15
47549    2021-009BSTARLINK-18062025 May 172025 May 8
47634    2021-012QSTARLINK-20102025 May 172025 May 8
62264    2024-236BOBJECT B2025 May 172025 May 8
46759    2020-074WSTARLINK-18332025 May 172025 May 16
53181    2022-083BBSTARLINK-42732025 May 172025 May 15
52466    2022-049RSTARLINK-38402025 May 182025 May 15
48600    2021-041AZSTARLINK-22752025 May 192025 May 15
55052    2023-001AVSKYKRAFT-1D2025 May 192025 May 15
59118    2024-043WLACE-12025 May 192025 May 15
53217    2022-084AESTARLINK-43792025 May 192025 May 15
32788    2008-021FAAUSAT CUBESAT 22025 May 202025 May 15
53260    2022-086USTARLINK-41362025 May 202025 May 15
17566    1987-024ACOSMOS 18252025 May 202025 May 16
44721    2019-074JSTARLINK-10152025 May 212025 May 15
47629    2021-012KSTARLINK-19742025 May 212025 May 8
53146    2022-083QSTARLINK-40992025 May 212025 May 15
46363    2020-062AQSTARLINK-17392025 May 222025 May 8
47766    2021-017AWSTARLINK-21842025 May 222025 May 15
44719    2019-074GSTARLINK-10132025 May 232025 May 15
47829    2021-018AUSTARLINK-24162025 May 232025 May 15
45774    2020-038AWSTARLINK-14852025 May 242025 May 15
59383    2024-062KSTARLINK-317092025 May 242025 May 15
62458    2024-252EFALCON 9 R/B2025 May 242025 May 8
58260    2023-174ELEMUR 2 DILIGHTFUL2025 May 252025 May 8
58263    2023-174HLEMUR 2 GOOD-VIBES2025 May 252025 May 8
58278    2023-174YFLOCK 4Q 192025 May 262025 May 8
24721    1997-005BM-5 R/B2025 May 272025 May 8
47564    2021-009SSTARLINK-19632025 May 272025 May 15
47663    2021-012AVSTARLINK-20532025 May 272025 May 15
47995    2021-024USTARLINK-23092025 May 272025 May 15
44934    2020-001WSTARLINK-10712025 May 282025 May 15
47558    2021-009LSTARLINK-19572025 May 282025 May 8
59119    2024-043XOBJECT X2025 May 282025 May 8
44945    2020-001AHSTARLINK-11092025 May 292025 May 15
44952    2020-001AQSTARLINK-11172025 May 292025 May 8
47777    2021-017BHSTARLINK-22102025 May 292025 May 15
63798    2025-091ZSTARLINK-338272025 May 292025 May 8
46118    2020-057BSTARLINK-15882025 May 302025 May 8
48003    2021-024ACSTARLINK-22632025 May 302025 May 15
57464    2023-107HSTARLINK-301152025 May 302025 May 15
15944    1985-069ACOSMOS 16742025 May 312025 May 8
46151    2020-057ALSTARLINK-16312025 May 312025 May 8
57295    2023-096FSTARLINK-302062025 May 312025 May 15
63704    2025-087HSTARLINK-339372025 May 312025 May 8


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.

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.

Table created: 2025 May 16, 06:47 UTC

Cat No &
Designation
Name
(Space-Track)
Terminal
Date & Time UTC
Lat, Long & Heading
(10 km altitude)
TIP Message
Issued UTC
56798
2023-078AH
STARLINK-60682025 May 14 07:35
± 1 minutes
10°.2 south, 178°.9 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 14 13:24
56755
2023-073D
ELECTRON R/B2025 May 14 21:29
± 1 minutes
15°.7 south, 43°.3 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 15 17:47
54589
2022-164B
KZ-11 R/B2025 May 12 07:48
± 1 minutes
14°.1 north, 51°.7 west
northbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 12 09:17
48008
2021-024AH
STARLINK-22712025 May 12 00:14
± 14 minutes
10°.4 north, 105°.6 west
northbound, ± 0.16 orbits
2025 May 12 04:41
47868
2021-021J
STARLINK-23232025 May 10 04:19
± 1 minutes
32°.6 north, 158°.9 west
northbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 10 04:59
46148
2020-057AH
STARLINK-16162025 May 10 05:36
± 1 minutes
6°.6 south, 152°.7 west
northbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 10 05:52
45566
2020-025AM
STARLINK-13582025 May 13 04:52
± 2 minutes
50°.1 south, 78°.7 west
northbound, ± 0.02 orbits
2025 May 13 12:49
45075
2020-006AH
STARLINK-11742025 May 13 10:35
± 1 minutes
40°.2 north, 137°.3 east
northbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 13 12:04
40108
2014-046B
FALCON 9 R/B2025 May 14 21:26
± 1 minutes
15°.7 south, 43°.3 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2025 May 15 05:31
6073
1972-023E
COSMOS 482 DESCENT CRAFT2025 May 10 05:32
± 12 minutes
39°.9 south, 110°.8 west
northbound, ± 0.14 orbits
2025 May 10 10:00


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. Sometimes the date shown indicates when the object was first noticed as "missing from orbit", re-entry may have occurred at least one day earlier.

Table created: 2025 May 16, 06:48 UTC

Cat No Designation Name (SpaceTrack) Date UTC
 
40108   2014-046BFALCON 9 R/B2025 May 14
56798   2023-078AHSTARLINK-60682025 May 14
63224   2025-052QPIONEER-032025 May 14
43886   2018-111LLEMUR 2 ZO2025 May 13
45075   2020-006AHSTARLINK-11742025 May 13
45566   2020-025AMSTARLINK-13582025 May 13
47507   2021-006CYXR-12025 May 13
49322   2021-091HOBJECT H2025 May 13
50995   2022-002MMDASAT-1A2025 May 13
55030   2023-001XFLOCK 4Y 292025 May 13
56986   2023-084BGAYRIS-22025 May 13
56988   2023-084BJAYRIS-12025 May 13
58324   2023-174BWFLOCK 4Q 102025 May 13
58333   2023-174CFLEMUR 2 THE-CLEANER2025 May 13
58917   2024-024AOBJECT A2025 May 13
59052   2024-039BOBJECT B2025 May 13
59054   2024-039DOBJECT D2025 May 13
59055   2024-039EOBJECT E2025 May 13
59056   2024-039FOBJECT F2025 May 13
59058   2024-039HOBJECT H2025 May 13
59059   2024-039JOBJECT J2025 May 13
48008   2021-024AHSTARLINK-22712025 May 12
51890   2022-022AQSTARLINK-35192025 May 12
54589   2022-164BKZ-11 R/B2025 May 12
6073   1972-023ECOSMOS 482 DESCENT CRAFT2025 May 10
46148   2020-057AHSTARLINK-16162025 May 10
47868   2021-021JSTARLINK-23232025 May 10
46163   2020-057AYSTARLINK-16102025 May 8
46544   2020-070NSTARLINK-16942025 May 8
47129   2020-088HSTARLINK-18382025 May 8
48961   2021-059CLASTROCAST-02022025 May 8
53678   2022-105AGSTARLINK-44182025 May 8
58591   2023-200CSTARLINK-310432025 May 8
23126   1994-034CSTRV 1B2025 May 7
44497   2019-054CPEARL WHITE 12025 May 7
45666   2020-035KSTARLINK-14492025 May 7
62217   2024-230BSL-4 R/B2025 May 7
40023   2014-033PFLOCK 1C 102025 May 6
44414   2019-038AESOCRAT2025 May 6
45579   2020-025BASTARLINK-13322025 May 6
46489   2020-068DMEZNSAT2025 May 6
46534   2020-070CSTARLINK-16592025 May 6
47956   2021-022AACHALLENGEONE2025 May 6
48903   2021-059AALINCS22025 May 6
51038   2022-002BGMDASAT-1C2025 May 6
55069   2023-001BNFLOCK 4Y 92025 May 6
55071   2023-001BQFLOCK 4Y 82025 May 6
58330   2023-174CCPICO-01G0052025 May 6
58553   2023-193ATIANYI 332025 May 6
59061   2024-039LOBJECT L2025 May 6
59062   2024-039MOBJECT M2025 May 6
59063   2024-039NOBJECT N2025 May 6
45407   2020-019AZSTARLINK-12752025 May 5
45682   2020-035ABSTARLINK-13972025 May 5
55909   2023-035BCAPELLA-10 (WHITNEY)2025 May 5
56543   2023-065ASSTARLINK-62282025 May 5
44923   2020-001KSTARLINK-11062025 May 4
59649   2024-082USTARLINK-318032025 May 3
63633   2025-082BCZ-2F R/B2025 May 3
48028   2021-024BDSTARLINK-22642025 May 2
55391   2023-014ASTARLINK-50772025 May 2
59455   2024-068ASTARLINK-316172025 May 2
62105   2024-220TSTARLINK-335422025 May 2


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.


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