Five Russian spacecraft completed their orbital flight in August 2026. In the same month, 67 satellites from various countries either deorbited or were brought down from Earth's orbit, with the majority belonging to the American Starlink constellation.
The Russian five included TriSat-1, TriSat-2, TriSat-3, TriSat-4, and Hyperview-1G. The TriSat family satellites completed their flights almost one after another, while Hyperview-1G had been in orbit since 2024.
TriSat-3 was the first to leave orbit on August 11. TriSat-1 followed suit on August 12. Hyperview-1G ceased operations on August 18, TriSat-2 on August 20, and TriSat-4 on August 21.
The three TriSat spacecraft were associated with a single launch. Their international identifiers belong to mission 2025-313, indicating a joint orbital insertion. As a result, five Russian spacecraft completed their flights within just ten days.
Russian satellites accounted for about 7.5% of the total number of spacecraft that completed their flights in August. In comparison, Starlink accounted for about 43 spacecraft, or 64.1% of the monthly total.
The remaining spacecraft represented various space programs. The August statistics also included satellites from China, Italy, Germany, the UK, Australia, Japan, and other countries.
A satellite's deorbiting usually marks the final stage of its operation in low Earth orbit. Gradually losing altitude due to the resistance of the rarefied atmosphere, the spacecraft enters denser layers, where most of its structure breaks up and burns. In some cases, a satellite can be deorbited by a controlled maneuver.