/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 Aug 19
Wednesday, Day 231

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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 Aug 19, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name
(SpaceTrack)
Predicted
Date UTC
Prediction
Issued UTC
57406    2023-102CStarlink 301952026 Aug 182026 Aug 13
36470    1993-036BBVCosmos 2251 debris2026 Aug 202026 Aug 12
45388    2020-019AEStarlink 12802026 Aug 202026 Aug 19
46352    2020-062ADStarlink 16532026 Aug 202026 Aug 19
46582    2020-070BCStarlink 17282026 Aug 202026 Aug 18
53681    2022-105AKStarlink 44242026 Aug 202026 Aug 18
57956    2023-084BZSkykraft 3D2026 Aug 212026 Aug 12
67719    2026-024Fdebris2026 Aug 212026 Aug 12
46129    2020-057NStarlink 16232026 Aug 212026 Aug 18
53074    2022-077AHStarlink 43102026 Aug 222026 Aug 5
47178    2020-088BJStarlink 19122026 Aug 222026 Aug 18
54092    2022-136ATStarlink 51902026 Aug 222026 Aug 18
41658    2000-055NXNOAA 16 debris2026 Aug 232026 Aug 12
52579    2022-051AVStarlink 38932026 Aug 232026 Aug 5
53492    2022-099ADStarlink 44512026 Aug 232026 Aug 5
59764    2024-091MStarlink 111112026 Aug 232026 Aug 5
67482    2025-313BEname not known2026 Aug 232026 Aug 12
37399    2011-018BSL-26 rocket stage2026 Aug 232026 Aug 19
61480    2024-140AANCZ 6A debris2026 Aug 242026 Aug 12
39964    1981-053PACosmos 1275 debris2026 Aug 252026 Aug 12
46329    2020-062EStarlink 16952026 Aug 252026 Aug 12
46727    2020-073BKStarlink 18302026 Aug 252026 Aug 12
47657    2021-012APStarlink 20412026 Aug 252026 Aug 5
48029    2021-024BEStarlink 22992026 Aug 252026 Aug 12
53477    2022-099NStarlink 44122026 Aug 252026 Aug 12
61915    2024-207DStarlink 325592026 Aug 262026 Aug 12
69237    1998-067YFEVA debris2026 Aug 262026 Aug 5
46142    2020-057ABStarlink 15972026 Aug 272026 Aug 5
53152    2022-083WStarlink 40452026 Aug 272026 Aug 12
53500    2022-099AMStarlink 44552026 Aug 272026 Aug 12
53673    2022-105ABStarlink 44562026 Aug 272026 Aug 5


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 Aug 19, 06:03 UTC

Cat No &
Designation
Name Terminal
Date & Time UTC
Lat, Long & Heading
(10 km altitude)
TIP Message
Issued UTC
69628
2026-138H
Kuaizhou upper stage2026 Aug 15 18:33
± 1 minute(s)
24°.3 south, 105°.4 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 15 19:20
67630
2026-020P
Starlink 364162026 Aug 16 01:41
± 2 minute(s)
42°.8 south, 116°.3 west
southbound, ± 0.02 orbits
2026 Aug 16 08:11
59764
2024-091M
Starlink 111112026 Aug 17 17:31
± 1 minute(s)
53°.2 south, 155°.4 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 17 20:19
57432
2023-105C
Starlink 301882026 Aug 17 21:30
± 1 minute(s)
33°.3 south, 81°.4 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 18 03:58
53817
2022-113C
Electron third stage2026 Aug 8 15:19
± 1 minute(s)
55°.5 north, 109°.9 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 12 16:58
48460
2021-040AJ
Starlink 25822026 Aug 13 07:00
± 1 minute(s)
0°.1 south, 179°.9 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 13 23:32
47590
2021-009AU
Starlink 19952026 Aug 14 19:39
± 2 minute(s)
29°.5 south, 103°.2 west
southbound, ± 0.02 orbits
2026 Aug 15 03:11
47158
2020-088AN
Starlink 18732026 Aug 12 08:07
± 1 minute(s)
46°.8 south, 73°.6 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 12 09:44


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 Aug 19, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name Date UTC
 
57432   2023-105CStarlink 301882026 Aug 18
61772   2024-199APHyperView 1G2026 Aug 18
59764   2024-091MStarlink 111112026 Aug 17
67630   2026-020PStarlink 364162026 Aug 16
69628   2026-138HKuaizhou upper stage2026 Aug 15
56631   2022-151AFFCZ-6A debris2026 Aug 15
69324   1998-067YGISS debris2026 Aug 15
47590   2021-009AUStarlink 19952026 Aug 14
57406   2023-102CStarlink 301952026 Aug 13
48460   2021-040AJStarlink 25822026 Aug 13
30597   1999-025AMCFengyun 1C debris2026 Aug 13
47158   2020-088ANStarlink 18732026 Aug 12
52853   2022-062ZStarlink 41892026 Aug 12
67755   2025-313BFOBJECT BF2026 Aug 12


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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