Re-Entry Was Confirmed On 25 December 2025. Everyone Was Completely Fine About This.
ORC DISPATCH · MISSION REPORT · ORC-2025-301 · CLEARED FOR EXTERNAL PUBLICATION · EVERYONE WAS FINE ABOUT IT · THIS IS THE OFFICIAL POSITION · OFFICIAL POSITION: FINAL
MISSION REF / ORC-2025-301 · FILED 05 JAN 2026 · PUBLISHED 23 MAY 2026
Re-Entry Was Confirmed On 25 December 2025. Everyone Was Completely Fine About This.
GEO Standard Retrieval · S-01 · ORC-V1 “Maud” · Nov–Dec 2025
APPROVED: M. HARGREAVES (FILED 27 DECEMBER) · LEGAL: L. SANDHU (FILED 29 DECEMBER) · NOTE: ORBITAL MECHANICS DO NOT OBSERVE PUBLIC HOLIDAYS. ORC OBSERVES THIS. ORC’S FAMILIES ARE ALSO OBSERVING THIS, IN A DIFFERENT SENSE.
STAFF POSITIONS · 25 DECEMBER 2025 · OFFICIAL AND OTHERWISE · CLICK TO EXPAND
STAFF MEMBER
OFFICIAL POSITION
STATUS
M. HARGREAVES
Ops Dir.
Ops Dir.
Completely fine. Re-entry confirmation is part of the job.
► detail
M. Hargreaves was at her parents’ house in Shropshire when the re-entry confirmation came through at 11:47. M. Hargreaves confirmed re-entry from her phone at the kitchen table. M. Hargreaves then put her phone in her coat pocket and returned to the sitting room. M. Hargreaves’ mother has asked us to note, via M. Hargreaves, that this has happened [REDACTED].
A. KOWALSKI
Ops Lead
Ops Lead
Fine. Happy to cover. It’s just a day.
► detail
A. Kowalski was on duty Christmas Day as scheduled ops lead. A. Kowalski confirmed this role voluntarily in October, noting that they had “no strong feelings about Christmas.” A. Kowalski confirmed re-entry at 11:47, sent the client notification, filed the preliminary mission note, and then heated a pie in the operations room microwave. A. Kowalski’s incident log for 25 December reads: “Re-entry confirmed 11:47. Notification issued. Pie was fine. [REDACTED]
P. PATEL
Senior Eng.
Senior Eng.
Absolutely fine. Monitoring from home. No issues.
► detail
P. Patel was on remote monitoring duty from her home in Oxford. P. Patel confirmed that all systems were nominal throughout the re-entry sequence. P. Patel filed her monitoring report at 14:33. P. Patel’s partner has submitted a comment to this report, via P. Patel, stating that P. Patel spent the entire Christmas lunch [REDACTED]
DR. J. CHEN
Astrodynamics
Astrodynamics
Fine. Confirming burn parameters is not time-sensitive post-burn.
► detail
Dr. Chen was not on duty Christmas Day. Dr. Chen’s burn calculations had been completed on 22 December and the re-entry sequence was running to plan. Dr. Chen nevertheless sent a message to A. Kowalski at 11:31 asking if there were any anomalies. A. Kowalski said no. Dr. Chen sent another message at 11:44 asking if there were any anomalies. A. Kowalski said still no. Dr. Chen sent a message at 11:48 saying [REDACTED]
L. SANDHU
Legal
Legal
Fine. The regulatory notification can wait until the 27th. This is within the filing window.
► detail
L. Sandhu was correct that the regulatory notification does not need to be filed on Christmas Day. L. Sandhu filed it on 27 December. L. Sandhu was the first person to file anything in that calendar week, which we know because the ORS timestamp confirmed receipt at 08:04 on 27 December, before ORS offices officially opened at 09:00. L. Sandhu has not commented on the 08:04 timestamp. We have not asked L. Sandhu about the 08:04 timestamp. [REDACTED]
C. MORRISON
Mission Reporting
Mission Reporting
Fine. Not required on the day. I brought the tree in.
► detail
C. Morrison was not on duty and was not required to be on duty. C. Morrison’s contribution to ORC-2025-301 was the acquisition and installation of a small artificial Christmas tree in the operations room on 22 December. The tree was 82cm tall. It had a star on top. A. Kowalski turned off the blinking lights. C. Morrison has been informed that A. Kowalski turned off the blinking lights. C. Morrison said [REDACTED]
THE CLIENT
(commissioning)
(commissioning)
Delighted. Best Christmas present we could have asked for.
► detail
The client received re-entry confirmation via automated notification at 11:47. The client replied to the notification at 12:03 with the words “Merry Christmas! Best Christmas present we could have asked for!” followed by two exclamation marks and a star emoji. A. Kowalski forwarded this to M. Hargreaves. M. Hargreaves replied with a single word. [REDACTED]
ORC-V1 “Maud” completed a standard GEO retrieval for an international satellite operator. The object was transferred to graveyard orbit at GEO+302 km. The mission commenced on 24 November 2025. The deorbit burn was completed on 23 December 2025. Re-entry was confirmed on 25 December 2025 at 11:47 UTC over the South Pacific uninhabited zone.
The re-entry date was not chosen. It was calculated. Orbital mechanics produced 25 December as the re-entry date from a mission that commenced on 24 November. This is not a scheduling decision. This is physics. ORC notes this because it has been asked, more than once, whether ORC “planned it for Christmas for the story.” We did not. The story is a consequence, not a plan. The story is, however, quite good.
02 / MISSION STATISTICSVERIFIED
| Mission commencement | 24 November 2025 |
| Deorbit burn completion | 23 December 2025 |
| Re-entry confirmation | 25 December 2025 · 11:47 UTC |
| Staff on duty (Christmas Day) | A. Kowalski · P. Patel (remote) |
| Staff not on duty but who messaged anyway | Dr. Chen · twice |
| Client response time to re-entry notification | 16 minutes · including two exclamation marks and a star emoji |
| Festive decorations in ops room | 1 tree · 82cm · lights: installed by C. Morrison · blinking function: disabled by A. Kowalski |
| Turkey situation (M. Hargreaves) | Eaten · eventually · while fine about everything |
| ORC position on Christmas missions | Orbital mechanics do not observe public holidays. ORC observes orbital mechanics. |
- ★ ORC will establish a Christmas duty roster from 2026, formalising what has previously been managed on an informal volunteer basis. The roster will include enhanced overtime provisions. This was not requested by anyone. ORC is doing it anyway because it is the right thing to do.
- ★ A. Kowalski received a Christmas Day working bonus consistent with ORC’s enhanced rate policy. A. Kowalski said it was unnecessary. A. Kowalski accepted it.
- ★ The operations room tree will return in 2025. C. Morrison has already noted the preference for non-blinking lights. A. Kowalski has confirmed this preference. This has been recorded.
- ★ M. Hargreaves’ mother has been sent, by ORC, a bottle of wine and a note. The note explains orbital mechanics. The note also says thank you. M. Hargreaves has been informed of the note. M. Hargreaves said it was unnecessary. We sent it anyway.
ORBITAL MECHANICS
Re-entry windows are determined by physics. ORC does not select re-entry dates for narrative effect. ORC does, however, note when the narrative effect is this good. The mission was successful. Everyone was fine. Merry Christmas.
END OF REPORT · ORC-2025-301 · RE-ENTRY: 25 DEC · EVERYONE: FINE · TREE: RETURNED · LIGHTS: NON-BLINKING (2026)