/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 8
Saturday, Day 220

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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 8, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name
(SpaceTrack)
Predicted
Date UTC
Prediction
Issued UTC
47589    2021-009ATStarlink 19942026 Aug 72026 Aug 7
69702    2026-146BElectron stage 22026 Aug 72026 Aug 7
54328    2022-151BXCZ 6A debris2026 Aug 82026 Aug 5
63406    2025-065HStarlink 336902026 Aug 82026 Aug 5
25467    1998-051AIridium 82 2026 Aug 82026 Aug 8
53817    2022-113CElectron third stage2026 Aug 82026 Aug 8
47380    2021-005AHStarlink 21002026 Aug 82026 Aug 7
47590    2021-009AUStarlink 19952026 Aug 92026 Jul 29
48442    2021-040QStarlink 26442026 Aug 92026 Jul 29
47883    2021-021ZStarlink 23422026 Aug 92026 Aug 7
47641    2021-012XStarlink 20192026 Aug 92026 Aug 8
48460    2021-040AJStarlink 25822026 Aug 102026 Jul 29
47749    2021-017ADStarlink 21632026 Aug 102026 Aug 7
46480    2020-067CCZ 4B debris2026 Aug 102026 Aug 7
20965    1990-097Drocket stage 2)2026 Aug 102026 Aug 7
47158    2020-088ANStarlink 18732026 Aug 112026 Jul 29
57406    2023-102CStarlink 301952026 Aug 112026 Aug 5
46351    2020-062ACStarlink 16462026 Aug 112026 Aug 7
30597    1999-025AMCFengyun 1C debris2026 Aug 122026 Aug 5
36470    1993-036BBVCosmos 2251 debris2026 Aug 122026 Jul 29
53681    2022-105AKStarlink 44242026 Aug 122026 Jul 29
69628    2026-138HKuaizhou upper stage2026 Aug 122026 Jul 29
41658    2000-055NXNOAA 16 debris2026 Aug 132026 Jul 29
53506    2022-099ATStarlink 44372026 Aug 132026 Jul 29
39964    1981-053PACosmos 1275 debris2026 Aug 142026 Jul 29
46352    2020-062ADStarlink 16532026 Aug 142026 Jul 29
49489    2002-032DTNOAA 17 debris2026 Aug 142026 Aug 5
54092    2022-136ATStarlink 51902026 Aug 142026 Jul 29
69324    1998-067YGISS debris2026 Aug 142026 Aug 5
69631    2026-128FZQ-2E DEB2026 Aug 142026 Jul 29
34410    1993-036RBCosmos 2251 debris2026 Aug 152026 Aug 5
52579    2022-051AVStarlink 38932026 Aug 152026 Jul 29
53477    2022-099NStarlink 44122026 Aug 152026 Jul 29
57956    2023-084BZSkykraft 3D2026 Aug 152026 Jul 29
61480    2024-140AANCZ 6A debris2026 Aug 152026 Jul 29
67482    2025-313BEname not known2026 Aug 152026 Jul 29
43881    2018-111FD-Star One2026 Aug 162026 Aug 5
46129    2020-057NStarlink 16232026 Aug 162026 Jul 29
53673    2022-105ABStarlink 44562026 Aug 162026 Jul 29
56355    2023-058AQStarlink 55332026 Aug 162026 Aug 5
57156    2023-090BHStarlink 61372026 Aug 162026 Aug 5
67719    2026-024Fdebris2026 Aug 162026 Jul 29


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 8, 06:03 UTC

Cat No &
Designation
Name Terminal
Date & Time UTC
Lat, Long & Heading
(10 km altitude)
TIP Message
Issued UTC
69702
2026-146B
Electron stage 22026 Aug 7 16:45
± 1 minute(s)
23°.5 north, 157°.6 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 7 21:33
57930
2023-147T
Starlink 304762026 Aug 2 11:39
± 1 minute(s)
42°.4 south, 109°.8 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 5 17:35
47589
2021-009AT
Starlink 19942026 Aug 7 13:07
± 2 minute(s)
48°.1 south, 53°.7 east
southbound, ± 0.02 orbits
2026 Aug 7 19:37
46723
2020-073BF
Starlink 18262026 Aug 5 22:02
± 1 minute(s)
50°.2 south, 111°.4 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 6 01:35
26702
2001-007A
Odin2026 Aug 3 14:17
± 2 minute(s)
20°.6 south, 86°.4 west
southbound, ± 0.02 orbits
2026 Aug 3 20:14
25157
1998-007A
GFO2026 Aug 3 05:04
± 1 minute(s)
71°.5 south, 25°.6 west
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 Aug 3 10:10


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 8, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name Date UTC
 
46723   2020-073BFStarlink 18262026 Aug 6
52689   2022-053AKStarlink 40782026 Aug 6
25157   1998-007AGFO2026 Aug 3
26702   2001-007AOdin2026 Aug 3
45572   2020-025ATStarlink 13202026 Aug 2
57930   2023-147TStarlink 304762026 Aug 2
45081   2020-006APStarlink 11512026 Aug 1
40223   1993-036BVCCosmos 2251 debris2026 Aug 1
67684   1998-067YACoral2026 Aug 1


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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