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

List of large reentering space debris is a list of man made objects reentering Earth's atmosphere by mass (see space debris). They are typically destroyed by reentry heating, but some components can survive. Most of these objects are relatively small; larger objects have survived but usually break up into smaller pieces during reentry.[1][2][3]

The STS program (the Space Shuttle) launched 134 external tanks into space, they could weigh empty 78,100 pounds (35,425.6 kg), although they were not necessarily completely empty when discarded.[4] There was several different tanks with different weights, including the Standard weight, Lightweight, and Super Lightweight Tank. In general the heavier tanks were early, and over the decades new materials and removal of unnecessary features brought the mass down. The tanks fueled the spacecraft's acceleration to orbital velocity, after which they could be discarded and the STS then used its Orbital Maneuvering System which used a different fuel and engines

  • Standard weight tank used for first few missions with variations such if they were painted and the anti-geyser line.
  • Lightweight tank used primarily from 1983-1998, about 30,000 kg (66,000 lb)[5] (Ranged from 68k to 66k lbs over the years)[5]
  • Super Lightweight Tank, used after 1998, about 58,000 lb[6]

Many other launch systems have discarded spent stages into space, but not all stages go into orbit or even space. For comparison the STS side boosters did not reach space.

Examples of heaviest re-entering spacecraft or components

ObjectOwnerMassReentry DateAge[7]Reentry typeLaunch Date[7][8]
MirRussia 120,000 kg (260,000 lb)23 March 200115 yearsControlled20 February 1986
Skylab[3]USA 69,000 kg (152,000 lb)11 July 19796 yearsPartially Controlled14 May 1973
Salyut 7/Cosmos 1686USSR40,000 kg (88,000 lb)7 February 19918 yearsUncontrolled13 May 1982
STS External Tank (Standard Tank)USA 35,000 kg (77,000 lb)+remaining fuel1981 (1981–83)Partially Controlled
Salyut 6/Cosmos 1267USSR 35,000 kg (77,000 lb)29 July 19824 yearsControlled29 September 1977
STS External Tank (Lightweight Tank)USA 30,000 kg (66,000 lb)+remaining fuel1983 (1983–98)Partially Controlled1981-2011
Cosmos 557USSR19,400 kg (42,800 lb)22 May 197311 daysUncontrolled11 May 1973
Salyut 5USSR19,000 kg (42,000 lb)8 August 19771 year 2 monthsControlled2 June 1976
Salyut 1USSR 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)11 October 19715 months 22 daysControlled19 April 1971
Salyut 3USSR 18,900 kg (41,700 lb)24 January 19756 months 30 daysControlled25 June 1974
Salyut 4USSR18,900 kg (41,700 lb)2 February 19772 years 1 monthControlled26 December 1974
Apollo SA-5 Nose ConeUSA17,100 kg (37,700 lb)30 April 19662 years 3 monthsUncontrolled29 January 1964
Apollo SA-6 CSM BP-13USA16,900 kg (37,300 lb)1 June 19644 daysUncontrolled28 May 1964
Apollo SA-7 CSM BP-15USA 16,650 kg (36,710 lb)22 September 19644 daysUncontrolled18 September 1964
Cosmos 929USSR 15,000 kg (33,000 lb)2 February 19786 months 16 daysControlled17 July 1977
Cosmos 1443USSR 15,000 kg (33,000 lb)19 September 19836 months 17 daysControlled2 March 1983
CGRO[3]USA14,910 kg (32,870 lb)4 June 20009 yearsControlled5 April 1991
Phobos-Grunt[9]Russia 13,500 kg (29,800 lb)15 January 20122 months 6 daysUncontrolled9 November 2011
Pegasus 1USA10,297 kg (22,701 lb) [10]17 September 1978[11]13 yearsUncontrolled16 February 1965
Pegasus 2USA 9,058 kg (19,969 lb)[10]3 November 1979[11]14 yearsUncontrolled25 May 1965
Tiangong-1China 8,506 kg (18,753 lb)2 April 2018[12]6 yearsUncontrolled29 Sep 2011
UARS[13]NASA5,900 kg (13,000 lb)24 September 201120 yearsUncontrolled12 September 1991
ROSAT[14]DLR 2,400 kg (5,300 lb)23 October 201121 yearsUncontrolled1 June 1990

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Largest Objects to Reenter". Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies.
  2. ↑ Orbiting Debris: A Space Environmental Problem-Background Paper (PDF) (OTA-BP-ISC-72 ed.). U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. October 1990.
  3. 1 2 3 Larsen, Francis Lyall, Paul B. (2009). Space law : a treatise ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. pp. 114–121. ISBN 0-7546-4390-5.
  4. ↑
  5. 1 2
  6. ↑
  7. 1 2 For composite objects such as space stations, age and launch date are based on the first launched module.
  8. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  9. ↑ Amos, Jonathan (15 January 2012). "Phobos-Grunt: Failed probe 'falls over Pacific'". BBC.
  10. 1 2 "World Civil Satellites 1957-2006". Space Security Index. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  11. 1 2 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  12. ↑ 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 http://www.space-track.org @US_Stratcom @usairforce @AFSpaceCC @30thSpaceWing @PeteAFB @SpaceTrackOrg
  13. ↑ Justin Mullins, Paul Marks (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.
  14. ↑ 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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