The " Albania 1 " satellite, introduced years ago by the government as part of the satellite surveillance project for territorial control, is reported to have burned up in the atmosphere on January 29, 2026 , finally decommissioning.
The news was made public by technology expert Besmir Semanaj , who raised questions about the progress and transparency of this project.
The two satellites "Albania 1" and "Albania 2" were launched into space on January 3, 2023 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, as part of an agreement worth about $6 million between the National Civil Defense Agency and the American company Satellogic USA Inc.
The project was presented as a modern step for monitoring the Albanian territory, with a focus on illegal construction, cannabis cultivation, fires, and environmental and border security issues.
At the time, authorities emphasized that satellite technology would enable Albanian institutions to receive real-time data for more efficient territorial administration and for strengthening public policies in various fields.

And recently, a post made on social media by a technology expert has brought attention back to the two satellites.
Semanaj says that one of the satellites, specifically Albania 1, has completed its cycle, while according to him, the lack of transparency is the main problem, as there is still no balance sheet regarding costs nor a detailed report on the concrete results achieved on the ground.
" To this day, we do not have a clear figure for how much this project has really cost. It is said to be $6 million, but in Albania , "it is said" and "it is" rarely match. We do not have any serious report with results: how many buildings have been discovered thanks to these satellites, how many cannabis plots, how many fire cases have been managed differently because of them.

And above all, we don't have an official confirmation for something that is already a fact: will the government openly say that Albania 1 is no longer in orbit ?", he writes, among other things.