2 weeks ago
India's LVM3 M5 Upper Stage Re-enters Atmosphere over Atlantic Ocean
India has a big rocket called LVM3.
In November 2025, one of these rockets launched a communication satellite into space from Sriharikota.
After delivering the satellite, the big empty part of the rocket, called the upper stage, was left floating in orbit.
ISRO, India's space agency, planned for this rocket part to come back to Earth quickly instead of staying in space for a long time.
Coming back into Earth's atmosphere is called re-entry.
On July 30, 2026, the upper stage fell back to Earth and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of the rocket part burned up from the intense heat of falling very fast.
Only a few tough pieces, like gas bottles, nozzles, and tanks, were expected to survive.
Space experts tracked the falling stage with radar, including the US Space Command.
ISRO did this on purpose to help keep space clean of dangerous leftover junk.
The C25 upper stage of India's Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3), launched on November 2, 2025, from Sriharikota, re-entered the atmosphere on July 30, 2026.
The upper stage had injected the CMS-03 communication satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit with a perigee of 170 km and an apogee of 29,970 km before being passivated.
The object was routinely tracked by the US Space Command as NORAD ID 66310 and International Designator 2025-249A, with ISRO and Sriharikota's multi-object-tracking radar also monitoring its decay.
The most probable impact time was estimated at around 12:08 UTC on July 30, 2026, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Only high-melting-point elements such as gas bottles, nozzles, and tanks were expected to survive re-entry; the stage's residual orbital lifetime of up to 9 months complies with the IADC 25-year rule and India's Debris Free Space Mission recommendation of 5 years.
- Who
- The C25 upper stage of India's Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3), operated by ISRO and tracked by the US Space Command.
- What
- The spent upper stage re-entered Earth's atmosphere and impacted the Atlantic Ocean.
- Where
- Atlantic Ocean; the rocket was launched from Sriharikota, India.
- When
- Around 12:08 UTC on July 30, 2026; the LVM3 was launched on November 2, 2025.
- Why
- The stage's orbit naturally decayed after delivering the CMS-03 satellite; ISRO planned a short post-mission orbital lifetime to reduce space debris in the crowded low Earth orbit region.
Key facts
- Agency
- ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
- Rocket
- LVM3 M5 (5th operational flight of LVM3)
- Upper Stage
- C25
- Launch
- November 2, 2025, 17:26 IST (11:56 UTC), from Sriharikota
- Payload
- CMS-03 communication satellite (GTO: perigee 170 km, apogee 29,970 km)
- Re-entry
- July 30, 2026, around 12:08 UTC
- Impact Location
- Atlantic Ocean
- Tracking ID
- NORAD 66310 / International Designator 2025-249A
Sources
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