UK Space Operations Report, January 2026
Summary
The National Space Operations Centre published its monthly space operations report covering January 2026. The report documents routine space domain awareness activities including monitoring of 50 re-entering objects (39 satellites and 11 rocket bodies), 2,608 collision avoidance alerts for UK-licensed satellites, and a net addition of 177 objects to the Registered Space Objects catalogue. One fragmentation incident occurred in Graveyard Orbit with assessments ongoing. Increased space weather activity was observed throughout the month.
What changed
The National Space Operations Centre published its January 2026 monthly report documenting routine UK space domain awareness and protection activities. Key metrics included 50 monitored re-entries (39 satellites, 11 rocket bodies), 2,608 collision avoidance alerts, and 177 newly registered space objects added to the orbital catalogue. One fragmentation event in Graveyard Orbit is under assessment.\n\nThis report contains no new compliance obligations or regulatory requirements for external parties. Affected entities including satellite operators should continue routine monitoring of NSpOC collision avoidance advisories and space weather alerts.
What to do next
- Monitor for updates
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
News story
How we protected the UK and space in January 2026
This report was issued in February 2026 and covers the time period 1 January 2026 to 31 January 2026 inclusive.
From: National Space Operations Centre, UK Space Agency, Ministry of Defence and Met Office Published 19 February 2026
The National Space Operations Centre is led by the UK Space Agency and UK Space Command in partnership with the Met Office.
January saw sustained levels of space activity, with similar levels of uncontrolled re-entries and generally similar levels of collision alerts to those issued in December. The exception was space weather, which saw increased activity.
All NSpOC warning and protection services were functioning throughout the period.
Re-entry analysis
January saw a slight reduction in the number of objects re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, monitored by NSpOC, when compared with the previous month.
Of the 50 objects that re-entered, 39 were satellites and 11 were rocket bodies.
February: 129, March: 85, April: 92, May: 64, June: 55, July: 52, August: 34, September: 39, October: 54, November: 43, December: 52, January: 50
Collision avoidance analysis
Collision risks to UK-licensed satellites were broadly the same in January as in December.
February: 2,567, March: 2,588, April: 2,620, May: 1,546, June: 1,259, July: 1,038, August: 971, September: 1,537, October: 2,402, November: 2,472, December: 2,643, January: 2,608
Registered Space Objects (RSOs) analysis
The in-orbit population increased in January, with a net addition of 177 objects to the US Satellite Catalogue.
February: 30,087, March: 30,181, April: 30,309, May: 30,558, June: 30,883, July: 31,091, August: 31,345, September, 31,635, October: 31,928, November: 32,305, December: 32,690, January: 32,867
The number of Resident Space Objects (RSOs) reported may be subject to small adjustments over time as the way objects are tracked is refined. Figures in this report reflect the most current available data and may differ slightly from those published in previous months.
Fragmentation analysis
One fragmentation incident took place in January involving a satellite in the Graveyard Orbit (above Geostationary orbit). Assessments are ongoing to understand how many pieces of debris were released.
Space weather analysis
An increase in space weather activity was observed during the month of January, with geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and solar flares registered throughout the month.
Comments
The National Space Operations Centre combines and coordinates UK civil and military space domain awareness capabilities to enable operations, promote prosperity and protect UK interests in space and on Earth from space-related threats, risks and hazards.
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