List of reentering space debris

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An external tank floats away from the Space Shuttle orbiter. 134 of these tanks were brought into orbit and then released for re-entry (135 total orbital missions minus Challenger)
The External Tank for STS-1 is released from the Space Shuttle. This was a Standard Weight tank and was painted white
Debris from Salyut 7, which landed in Argentina in 1991

This is a list of artificial objects reentering Earth's atmosphere by mass (see space debris). Such objects are often completely destroyed by reentry heating, but large enough objects or components can survive. Most of the objects which reenter are relatively small; larger objects have survived but usually break up into smaller pieces during reentry.[1][2][3]

The list includes group entries for the 134 Space Shuttle external tanks used between 1981 and 2011. During Space Shuttle launches, the tanks reached space without reaching orbit and re-entered the atmosphere, breaking apart before impacting the ocean. The mass of those tanks varied throughout the years, as improvements made them lighter - successive modifications reduced their empty weight from approximately 77,000 pounds (35,000 kg) to approximately 58,500 lb (26,500 kg) for the Super Lightweight Tank used after 1998.[4] The tanks were also not necessarily completely empty when discarded.[5]

Many other launch systems have discarded spent stages into space, but not all stages go into orbit or even reach space (by passing the Kármán line). For example, the Space Shuttle side boosters did not reach space, as the highest altitude reached during their flight was only about 220,000 feet (67 km).

Examples of heaviest re-entering spacecraft or components[edit]

Object Owner Mass Reentry Date Age[6] Reentry type Launch Date[6][7]
Mir Russia 120,000 kg (260,000 lb) 23 March 2001 15 years Controlled 20 February 1986
Starship S28 USA 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) 14 March 2024 Partially Controlled 14 March 2024
Skylab[3] USA 69,000 kg (152,000 lb) 11 July 1979 6 years Partially Controlled 14 May 1973
Salyut 7/Cosmos 1686 USSR 40,000 kg (88,000 lb) 7 February 1991 8 years Uncontrolled 13 May 1982
S-II Stage / Skylab USA 36,200 kg (79,700 lb) 11 January 1975 18 Months Uncontrolled 14 May 1973
STS external tank (Standard Tank) USA 35,000 kg (77,000 lb) and remaining propellants 1981 (1981–83) Partially Controlled
Salyut 6/Cosmos 1267 USSR 35,000 kg (77,000 lb) 29 July 1982 4 years Controlled 29 September 1977
STS external tank (Lightweight Tank) USA 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) and remaining propellants 1983 (1983–2003) Partially Controlled 1981-2011
STS external tank (Super Lightweight Tank) USA 26,500 kg (58,400 lb) and remaining propellants 1998 (1998–2011) Partially Controlled 1981-2011
Long March 5B core (5B-Y1 flight) China 21,600 kg (47,600 lb) 11 May 2020 6 days Uncontrolled 5 May 2020
Long March 5B core (5B-Y2 flight) China 21,600 kg (47,600 lb) 9 May 2021[8] 9 days Uncontrolled 29 April 2021
Long March 5B core (5B-Y3 flight) China 21,600 kg (47,600 lb) 30 July 2022[9] 6 days Uncontrolled 24 July 2022
Long March 5B core (5B-Y4 flight) China 21,600 kg (47,600 lb) 4 November 2022[10] 4 days Uncontrolled 31 October 2022
Cosmos 557 USSR 19,400 kg (42,800 lb) 22 May 1973 11 days Uncontrolled 11 May 1973
Salyut 5 USSR 19,000 kg (42,000 lb) 8 August 1977 1 year 2 months Controlled 2 June 1976
Salyut 1 USSR 18,900 kg (41,700 lb) 11 October 1971 5 months 22 days Controlled 19 April 1971
Salyut 3 USSR 18,900 kg (41,700 lb) 24 January 1975 6 months 30 days Controlled 25 June 1974
Salyut 4 USSR 18,900 kg (41,700 lb) 2 February 1977 2 years 1 month Controlled 26 December 1974
Apollo SA-5 Nose Cone USA 17,100 kg (37,700 lb) 30 April 1966 2 years 3 months Uncontrolled 29 January 1964
Apollo SA-6 CSM BP-13 USA 16,900 kg (37,300 lb) 1 June 1964 4 days Uncontrolled 28 May 1964
Apollo SA-7 CSM BP-15 USA 16,650 kg (36,710 lb) 22 September 1964 4 days Uncontrolled 18 September 1964
Cosmos 929 USSR 15,000 kg (33,000 lb) 2 February 1978 6 months 16 days Controlled 17 July 1977
Cosmos 1443 USSR 15,000 kg (33,000 lb) 19 September 1983 6 months 17 days Controlled 2 March 1983
CGRO[3] USA 14,910 kg (32,870 lb) 4 June 2000 9 years Controlled 5 April 1991
Phobos-Grunt[11] Russia 13,500 kg (29,800 lb) 15 January 2012 2 months 6 days Uncontrolled 9 November 2011
Pegasus 1 USA 10,297 kg (22,701 lb) [12] 17 September 1978[13] 13 years Uncontrolled 16 February 1965
Pegasus 2 USA 9,058 kg (19,969 lb)[12] 3 November 1979[13] 14 years Uncontrolled 25 May 1965
Tiangong-1 China 8,506 kg (18,753 lb) 2 April 2018[14] 6 years Uncontrolled 29 Sep 2011
UARS[15] NASA 5,900 kg (13,000 lb) 24 September 2011 20 years Uncontrolled 12 September 1991
ROSAT[16] DLR 2,400 kg (5,300 lb) 23 October 2011 21 years Uncontrolled 1 June 1990


See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Largest Objects to Reenter". Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies. Archived from the original on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  2. ^ Orbiting Debris: A Space Environmental Problem-Background Paper (PDF) (OTA-BP-ISC-72 ed.). U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. October 1990. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  3. ^ a b c Larsen, Francis Lyall, Paul B. (2009). Space law : a treatise ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. pp. 114–121. ISBN 978-0-7546-4390-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM HISTORY | Spaceline".
  5. ^ "NASA - The External Tank".
  6. ^ a b For composite objects such as space stations, age and launch date are based on the first launched module.
  7. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  8. ^ Clinch, Matt (2021-05-09). "China says its rocket debris landed in the Indian Ocean". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  9. ^ Jones, Andrew (2022-07-30). "Long March 5B rocket stage makes fiery uncontrolled reentry over Indian Ocean". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  10. ^ Jones, Andrew (2022-11-04). "Long March 5B rocket reenters over Pacific Ocean after forcing airspace closures in Europe". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  11. ^ Amos, Jonathan (15 January 2012). "Phobos-Grunt: Failed probe 'falls over Pacific'". BBC.
  12. ^ a b "World Civil Satellites 1957-2006". Space Security Index. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  13. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  14. ^ 18 Space Control Squadron. "18 SPCS on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2 April 2018. UPDATE: #JFSCC confirmed #Tiangong1 reentered the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean at ~5:16 p.m. (PST) April 1. For details see www.space-track.org @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Mullins, Justin; Marks, Paul (20 September 2011). "Hardy 6-tonne satellite falls to Earth". New Scientist. Retrieved 25 September 2014. "This is the largest NASA satellite to come back uncontrolled for quite a while," says Nick Johnson, chief scientist for NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
  16. ^ Paul Marks (23 September 2011). "Second big satellite set to resist re-entry burn-up". New Scientist. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
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