/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
2026 May 16
Saturday, 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.

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 May 15, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name
(SpaceTrack)
Predicted
Date UTC
Prediction
Issued UTC
44724    2019-074MStarlink2026 May 142026 May 14
46691    2020-073XStarlink 17902026 May 142026 May 14
46564    2020-070AJStarlink 17332026 May 142026 May 12
34859    1993-036ACDCosmos 2251 debris2026 May 162026 May 6
46588    2020-070BJStarlink 17462026 May 162026 May 6
46714    2020-073AWStarlink 18162026 May 162026 May 6
54578    2022-151MECZ 6A debris2026 May 162026 May 13
68537    2026-061SSoyuz third stage2026 May 162026 May 13
51793    2022-017ABStarlink 36332026 May 172026 May 6
57437    2023-105HStarlink 302372026 May 172026 May 6
66910    1998-067XWname not known2026 May 172026 May 13
45674    2020-035TStarlink 14572026 May 182026 May 6
65033    2025-161UStarlink 346712026 May 182026 May 13
54837    2022-177TStarlink 53692026 May 182026 May 14
53858    2022-114ASStarlink 47982026 May 192026 May 6
59538    2024-074EStarlink 317252026 May 192026 May 13
64821    2025-151FKuiper 000742026 May 192026 May 6
53930    2022-119AWStarlink 50102026 May 202026 May 6
54333    2022-151CCCZ 6A debris2026 May 202026 May 6
27740    1984-114EAriane 3 debris2026 May 212026 May 6
31538    1999-025BYDFengyun 1C debris2026 May 212026 May 6
46130    2020-057PStarlink 16242026 May 212026 May 6
46168    2020-057BDStarlink 16272026 May 212026 May 6
46749    2020-074LStarlink 19112026 May 212026 May 6
62412    2024-249DStarlink 114622026 May 212026 May 13
67718    2026-024Edebris2026 May 212026 May 13
48592    2021-041ARStarlink 22492026 May 222026 May 13
55206    2022-151VXCZ 6A debris2026 May 222026 May 6
55867    2022-151ZPCZ 6A debris2026 May 222026 May 13
63492    2025-052BNHADES-ICM2026 May 222026 May 13
39266    2013-055BCUSat 12026 May 232026 May 13
46335    2020-062LStarlink 17272026 May 232026 May 6
61703    2024-195SStarlink 323352026 May 232026 May 13
67692    2026-024Ddebris2026 May 232026 May 13


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 May 15, 06:03 UTC

Cat No &
Designation
Name Terminal
Date & Time UTC
Lat, Long & Heading
(10 km altitude)
TIP Message
Issued UTC
56802
2023-078AM
Starlink 60702026 May 9 12:44
± 1 minute(s)
14°.4 south, 85°.6 east
southbound, ± 0.01 orbits
2026 May 9 14:30


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 May 15, 06:03 UTC

Cat No Designation Name Date UTC
 
68801   2026-088KElectron third stage2026 May 12
60502   2024-149ALFLOCK 4BE 332026 May 11
46462   2020-065JJilin-1 High Resolution 03C 032026 May 11
46038   2020-055MStarlink 15672026 May 10
61805   2024-140ABVCZ 6A debris2026 May 10
56802   2023-078AMStarlink 60702026 May 9
63876   2025-094NStarlink 340612026 May 8
54601   2022-151NBCZ 6A debris2026 May 8
62693   2025-009CNname not known2026 May 8
66907   1998-067XTname not known2026 May 8
66908   1998-067XUname not known2026 May 8


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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