Strela fell into the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii at 06:32 UTC on March 10, 2010. It spent 6 years and 95 days in orbit.

On December 5, 2003, Russia launched the first of a new rocket series called Strela (Russian: Arrow). Originally derived from the Soviet UR-100NU missile, it was promised to become the new generation of Russian payload delivery.

To this date, Strela remains the one and only rocket of its type that was launched into orbit. In other words, it was (and still is) one of a kind.

The Strela rocket was the 3,150th satellite detected by CASTOR. It was first detected at 23:23:14.018 UTC December 23, 2009. Only one image was obtained of this object (one of a kind).

Four hours and 8 minutes after CASTOR's only detection of Strela, a good friend, Dr. Brugh Joy, passed away in California. Many were devastated by this loss. We soon learned that the funeral for Dr. Joy would take place at the end of February 2010.

Through an amazing "coincidence", the Strela rocket was undergoing orbit decay shortly after CASTOR's detection. It was originally predicted to fall back to Earth on February 27, 2010; the very day of Dr. Joy's funeral.

Today, Strela is predicted to fall back to Earth on the 20th; one week before the funeral. At the present time there is no indication of just where Strela will land, or if any of it will be intact during re-entry.

At the present time, Strela is 240km above the Earth's surface and decreasing. It currently orbits 16.15 times every day (and increasing).

Within the scientific realm, nobody would take any notice of such coincidences, however, there are some who receive more meaning from such events and who would take such events as signs. Dr. Brugh Joy is one such person. He believed that there was much more spiritual significance to many events that the modern technological world currently consider to be coincidences.

Strela might have originally been launched for a specific scientific and technological purpose, but today it holds a special significance because it symbolizes a one of a kind human being that was loved and respected by many.

To some, Strela might be considered as just another forgotten piece of space garbage.

To me, it will always be known as "Brugh's satellite".

UPDATE (02/20/10): Strela's orbit was predicted to decay sometime today, however, at only 16.15 orbits per day, it seems too soon. As a rule of thumb, a satellite as large as Strela should fall back to Earth when the satellite reaches about 16.5 orbits per day, which will be in several days. Strela might fall back to Earth on Wednesday, February 24th or later.

UPDATE (02/25/10): Strela's decay date has been updated to February 25th by the U.S. Space Command, just two days before Dr. Brugh Joy's memorial. The satellite now orbits at 16.19 orbits per day. Currently, Strela is still orbiting us and is not expected by CASTOR to return to Earth until its reaches 16.2 orbits per day or more. This could mean that Strela might fall back to Earth on the very day of Brugh's memorial. Another update will be provided on the 26th.

UPDATE (02/26/10): Strela's decay has been "postponed" until after the 25th of February, since it is still up there! Right now, it is orbiting very near 16.2 orbits per day and increasing. Right now, there are no ideas about when this object will return to the Earth. It will definitely return, however, no prediction seems to be right.

UPDATE (03/01/10): Strela is still orbiting the Earth at 16.224 orbits per day. This number is currently changing by 0.005 orbits per day per day and still increasing. It is certain that this symbolic rocket will fall back to Earth before the end of this week.

UPDATE (03/05/10): Strela is still orbiting the Earth at 16.267 orbits per day. This number is currently changing by 0.008 orbits per day per day. The rocket's perigee altitude (closest point to the Earth) is now just under 200 kilometres (120 miles). This object must be made of very resilient material to withstand the forces now acting upon it. The new decay date predicted by the U.S. Space Command is May 15th, however I am doubtful that the object will be able to withstand the drag forces until then.

UPDATE (03/08/10): Strela is reaching its final curtain as its altitude reaches just 170 kilometres (just over 100 miles) and it orbits 16.35 times every day. Strela will be saying goodbye within a few days.

UPDATE (03/11/10): Strela went missing on the evening of March 9 and finally disappeared from all detectors on March 10th. It is now confirmed that Strela has fallen back to the Earth from whence it came. So Long, Brugh.