Four Parties Witnessed The Re-Entry. None Of Them Were Supposed To Be There. One Won An Award For It.
ORC DISPATCH · MISSION REPORT · ORC-2024-361 · CLEARED FOR EXTERNAL PUBLICATION · WITNESSES: FOUR · AWARD: ONE · ORC: NOT MENTIONED IN THE AWARD
MISSION REF / ORC-2024-361 · FILED 18 NOV 2024 · PUBLISHED 23 MAY 2026
Four Parties Witnessed The Re-Entry. None Of Them Were Supposed To Be There. One Won An Award For It.
GEO Disposal · S-04 · ORC-V1 “Maud” · Oct–Nov 2024
APPROVED: M. HARGREAVES · LEGAL: L. SANDHU · NOTE: ORC SELECTS RE-ENTRY ZONES TO MINIMISE OBSERVATION. SOUTH PACIFIC UNINHABITED ZONE IS THE STANDARD SELECTION. IT WAS NOT, ON THIS OCCASION, ENTIRELY UNINHABITED. THIS IS NOT ORC’S FAULT.
WITNESS ACCOUNTS · RE-ENTRY CONFIRMED 02 NOV 2024 · 23:41 UTC · CLICK EACH ENTRY
Re-entry was observed, photographed, and in one case filmed by four separate parties in the South Pacific. ORC became aware of the witnesses through a combination of social media, a press inquiry, and a phone call from the BBC. The re-entry itself was nominal.
WITNESS 1
Norwegian fishing vessel
MV Havheim
Norwegian fishing vessel
MV Havheim
The crew of a Norwegian fishing vessel observed a bright object traversing the southern sky at approximately 23:41 local time. The first mate filed a maritime incident report. The incident report described the object as “a slow-moving fireball of considerable brightness.”
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The MV Havheim was conducting fishing operations approximately 340 nautical miles south-southwest of the Pitcairn Islands. The re-entry occurred overhead at 23:41. The first mate, Henrik Larsen, filed a maritime incident report with the Norwegian Maritime Authority the following morning. The report described a “slow-moving fireball of considerable brightness traversing the sky from north-northwest to south-southeast, fragmenting into multiple smaller objects before disappearing below the horizon.”
“We thought at first it might be an aircraft in distress. Then it became clear it was moving too fast and too high for that. It was very bright. The whole crew came on deck. The cook thought it was a comet. The captain said it was probably a satellite. The captain was correct.”
— H. Larsen, First Mate, MV Havheim
The Norwegian Maritime Authority forwarded the report to ESA. ESA contacted ORC. ORC confirmed. The MV Havheim received no further communication on the matter. ORC would like it noted that the captain was correct.
— H. Larsen, First Mate, MV Havheim
WITNESS 2
Amateur astronomers
New Zealand
Amateur astronomers
New Zealand
A group of four amateur astronomers on a observing trip to a dark sky site on the South Island of New Zealand saw the re-entry from a distance of approximately 2,400 km. One of them had a telescope. The telescope was pointed at Jupiter.
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The group was conducting a scheduled meteor observation session at a dark sky reserve near Lake Tekapo. The re-entry entered their field of view at 23:41 and lasted approximately 90 seconds from their vantage point. They did not initially have a camera oriented toward the event, but two members of the group had mobile phones and captured footage from the 40-second mark onward. The footage was posted to an astronomy forum the same night. The post was titled “Unexpected bolide or satellite re-entry?? — Lake Tekapo 2 Nov.” The post received 847 replies within 48 hours. ORC was mentioned in reply #214.
“We were all looking at Jupiter when someone said ‘what is that.’ We turned around and it was just enormous. Very slow, very bright, breaking up as it went. Absolutely textbook re-entry. Probably a satellite. Brilliant evening, honestly — the re-entry was better than Jupiter.”
— Forum post, username: SouthernSkiesNZ
M. Hargreaves read reply #214. M. Hargreaves described the mention as [REDACTED].
— Forum post, username: SouthernSkiesNZ
WITNESS 3
Wildlife documentary crew
BBC Natural History Unit
Wildlife documentary crew
BBC Natural History Unit
A BBC Natural History Unit crew filming a nocturnal sequence for a wildlife documentary captured the re-entry on a 4K camera pointed at the southern sky as background for a scene involving a seabird. The footage was broadcast. It won an award.
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The BBC Natural History Unit was filming a documentary about migratory seabirds in the South Pacific. On the night of 2 November 2024, the crew was conducting a nocturnal filming session on a remote island, capturing time-lapse footage of the night sky as a background plate for a scene about navigation by stars. The camera was a Sony Venice 2 mounted on a motorised head, tracking at sidereal rate. The re-entry passed directly through frame.
“We had the camera set up for a star trail shot and the re-entry just went right through it. You can see it breaking up — the whole fragmentation sequence, over about forty seconds of the time-lapse. The director looked at the playback and said ‘that’s going in the programme.’ It went in the programme.”
— Name withheld, BBC Natural History Unit
The documentary was broadcast in March 2025. The re-entry sequence appears at 34 minutes and 12 seconds into episode 3. The sequence won a BAFTA for Best Cinematography (Factual). The BAFTA citation describes the sequence as “a rare and extraordinary capture of a satellite deorbit event, filmed by chance during a nocturnal seabird observation sequence.” ORC is not mentioned in the citation. ORC is not mentioned in the documentary. A. Kowalski has watched episode 3. A. Kowalski said [REDACTED].
— Name withheld, BBC Natural History Unit
WITNESS 4
Private sailing yacht
Seraphine
Private sailing yacht
Seraphine
The crew of a private yacht on a Pacific crossing observed the re-entry and posted photographs to Instagram. The post received 14,200 likes. The caption said it was a meteor. It was not a meteor.
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The Seraphine was a 42-foot sailing yacht on a Pacific crossing between French Polynesia and New Zealand. The owner, who runs a sailing lifestyle account, took several photographs of the re-entry using a long-exposure setting on a mirrorless camera. The photographs captured the re-entry track and fragmentation sequence with considerable clarity. The Instagram post, published at 02:14 on 3 November 2024 Pacific time, was captioned: “The Pacific at night is something else 🌟 incredible meteor shower out here!! #sailing #pacificcrossing #nightsky #meteor #blessed.”
The post received 14,200 likes. 847 comments. Of these, 23 suggested it might be a satellite re-entry rather than a meteor. Of these 23, three specifically mentioned ORC. The original poster replied to one of these with “Haha yes maybe!! Either way so beautiful 🙏.”
L. Sandhu reviewed the Instagram post at the suggestion of A. Kowalski, who had seen it shared in the astronomy forum. L. Sandhu noted that the photographs were, legally, images of ORC’s deorbit operation captured by a third party on a public waterway. L. Sandhu concluded that [REDACTED].
ORC-V1 “Maud” completed a GEO disposal for a telecommunications operator. The object was transferred to graveyard orbit at GEO+302 km on 29 October 2024 and deorbited over the South Pacific uninhabited zone on 2 November 2024. Re-entry confirmed at 23:41 UTC. The mission was completed nominally and without incident, subject to the four simultaneous incidents described above.
The South Pacific uninhabited zone is ORC’s standard re-entry zone for GEO disposals. It is selected because it is remote, large, and statistically unlikely to contain observers. The zone did, on this occasion, contain a Norwegian fishing vessel, four New Zealand amateur astronomers at a range of 2,400 km, a BBC wildlife documentary crew, and a sailing influencer. ORC acknowledges that “uninhabited” is doing considerable work in the phrase “South Pacific uninhabited zone.”
The BAFTA for Best Cinematography (Factual) was awarded to the BBC Natural History Unit at the 2025 BAFTA Television Craft Awards on 18 May 2025. The winning sequence, as noted, is a capture of ORC-2024-361’s re-entry during a nocturnal filming session. ORC was not notified of the nomination. ORC became aware of the award through A. Kowalski, who follows the BAFTA nominations for unrelated reasons.
M. Hargreaves sent a letter of congratulation to the BBC Natural History Unit on 19 May 2025. The letter was brief and professional. The letter mentioned, in its second paragraph, that the satellite in the sequence was ORC-V1 “Maud” and that the deorbit had been conducted by ORC under licence ORS/L/2011/0042. The letter noted that ORC was “pleased the mission had contributed, indirectly, to British broadcasting excellence.” The BBC Natural History Unit replied to the letter. The reply thanked ORC for the context. The reply also said the producer had [REDACTED].
- ORC has reviewed its South Pacific uninhabited zone selection criteria. The criteria remain appropriate. The zone is correctly designated. The zone will continue to be used. We note that no zone of this size can be guaranteed to contain no observers at any given time. We are at peace with this.
- The Norwegian Maritime Authority incident report has been filed with ORC’s regulatory records. The report has been acknowledged by the ORS. The ORS noted that the MV Havheim crew’s description of the event was “consistent with a controlled deorbit.” We agree that it was consistent with a controlled deorbit because it was a controlled deorbit.
- The astronomy forum post remains online. The thread is now 2,847 replies long. Reply #214 remains the most accurate. ORC has not engaged with the thread. ORC monitors the thread occasionally. Dr. Chen has read replies #1 through #312 and described the forum as “mostly correct.”
- The Instagram post reached 18,400 likes before the account moved on to other content. The caption still says meteor. We have not corrected it. We have discussed correcting it. L. Sandhu said leaving it was fine. We are leaving it.
RE-ENTRY ZONES
ORC selects re-entry zones to minimise risk to people, property, and infrastructure. The South Pacific uninhabited zone is the correct choice for GEO disposals. All re-entries are pre-notified to the relevant maritime and aviation authorities. We cannot guarantee that no one will be watching. We can guarantee that what they see, if they see it, is the result of a controlled and professionally executed operation. Even if they think it is a meteor.
END OF REPORT · ORC-2024-361 · RE-ENTRY: CONFIRMED · WITNESSES: 4 · BAFTA: WON (NOT BY ORC) · INSTAGRAM: STILL SAYS METEOR