Reentry watch · Starlink satellite
Starlink-5041: came down
Starlink-5041 came back into the atmosphere on October 20, 2026 at 8:18 PM UTC, over the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX brings old Starlinks down on purpose, and they burn up completely.
- What
- Starlink satellite (STARLINK-5041)
- Catalog number
- 53891
- Launched
- Sep 24, 2022 (2022-119F)
- Size on radar
- large
- Came down
- October 20, 2026 at 8:18 PM UTC
- Where it came down
- 51.8° S, 118.7° W, over the Pacific Ocean, heading east
- Updates
- 7 from Space-Track, the last on Oct 21, 2026, 2:02 AM UTC
Its last path
The map needs JavaScript. The list below names the cities near the path.
The line is where it would be at each moment of the window; the dot is where Space-Track expects it at the predicted time. Within the shaded band it could be seen, low in the sky, if it came down at that point.
Who could have seen it
Cities within about 1,000 km of the path while their sky was dark:
- Sofia: 9 km to the overhead, 11:56 PM GMT+3
- Tangshan: 26 km to the overhead, 5:13 AM GMT+8
- Dnipro: 53 km to the south, 11:59 PM GMT+3
- Gaziantep: 54 km to the northeast, 10:27 PM GMT+3
- Odessa: 64 km to the southwest, 11:58 PM GMT+3
- Tianjin: 79 km to the northeast, 5:13 AM GMT+8
- Bucharest: 80 km to the southwest, 11:57 PM GMT+3
- Maiduguri: 81 km to the southeast, 8:18 PM GMT+1
- Bamako: 85 km to the northeast, 8:46 PM GMT
- Sendai: 97 km to the east, 4:46 AM GMT+9
- Donetsk: 97 km to the north, 11:59 PM GMT+3
- Harbin: 102 km to the north, 3:43 AM GMT+8
- Alexandria: 108 km to the southwest, 10:24 PM GMT+3
- Aleppo: 111 km to the west, 10:26 PM GMT+3
- Adana: 113 km to the southeast, 10:26 PM GMT+3
- Tbilisi: 115 km to the west, 11:28 PM GMT+4
- Beijing: 116 km to the north, 5:13 AM GMT+8
- Qingdao: 146 km to the northeast, 5:14 AM GMT+8
- Beirut: 149 km to the northwest, 10:26 PM GMT+3
- Vladivostok: 157 km to the north, 5:44 AM GMT+10
- Yerevan: 158 km to the northwest, 11:28 PM GMT+4
- Samara: 169 km to the south, 1:01 AM GMT+4
- Kharkiv: 170 km to the southeast, 11:59 PM GMT+3
- Dalian: 173 km to the southwest, 5:14 AM GMT+8
How the prediction changed
| Issued | Time | Give or take |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2026, 2:02 AM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 8:18 PM UTC (down) | 60 minutes |
| Oct 20, 2026, 6:05 PM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 8:18 PM UTC | 60 minutes |
| Oct 20, 2026, 3:21 PM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 8:18 PM UTC | 60 minutes |
| Oct 20, 2026, 10:21 AM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 9:46 PM UTC | 2 hours |
| Oct 19, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC | 5 hours |
| Oct 18, 2026, 1:39 PM UTC | Oct 20, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC | 9 hours |
| Oct 17, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC | Oct 21, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC | 19 hours |
What a reentry looks like
Satellites and rocket stages hit the air at about 28,000 km/h (17,000 mph). About 70 to 100 km up they start to glow and break apart, so from the ground it looks like a slow line of orange and white fireballs, often with glowing trails, moving across the sky together in a straight line. It can last from 30 seconds to a few minutes, and it can be seen from up to about 1,000 km away, low on the horizon.
Not a meteor: a meteor is over in a second or two. A reentry is slower, lasts longer, and usually breaks into a cluster of pieces. Not a plane: no blinking lights, and it doesn't turn.
Is it dangerous?
Almost never. Starlink satellites are built to burn up completely. Big rocket stages can drop a few tough parts, like fuel tanks, which nearly always land in the ocean. If you find something you think fell from space, don't touch it: take photos and call the local police.
Saw it? Report it Everything coming down
Predictions from Space-Track.org (USSPACECOM's reentry messages). They narrow as the day comes: a few days out the time is only known to within hours, in the last hours to within minutes. Tumbling objects can still come down outside the window. Paths are worked out from the newest orbit data.