List of reentering space debris

This "List of large reentering space debris" is a list of man made objects reentering Earth's atmosphere by mass (see space debris). Many small objects such as CubeSats are destroyed by reentry heating, but some larger 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]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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

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

Object	Owner	Mass	Reentry Date	Age[7]	Reentry type	Launch Date[7][8]
Mir	Russia	120,000 kg (260,000 lb)	23 March 2001	15 years	Controlled	20 February 1986
Skylab[3]	USA	69,000 kg (152,000 lb)	11 July 1979	6 years	Uncontrolled	14 May 1973
Salyut 7/Cosmos 1686	USSR	40,000 kg (88,000 lb)	7 February 1991	8 years	Uncontrolled	13 May 1982
STS External Tank (Standard Tank)	USA	35,000 kg (77,000 lb)+remaining fuel	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)+remaining fuel	1983 (1983–98)		Partially Controlled	1981-2011
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[9]	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) [10]	17 September 1978[11]	13 years	Uncontrolled	16 February 1965
Pegasus 2	USA	9,058 kg (19,969 lb)[10]	3 November 1979[11]	14 years	Uncontrolled	25 May 1965
Tiangong-1	China	8,506 kg (18,753 lb)	2 April 2018[12]	6 years	Uncontrolled	29 Sep 2011
UARS[13]	NASA	5,900 kg (13,000 lb)	24 September 2011	20 years	Uncontrolled	12 September 1991
ROSAT[14]	DLR	2,400 kg (5,300 lb)	23 October 2011	21 years	Uncontrolled	1 June 1990

See also

• Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies
• Space Shuttle external tank
• List of heaviest spacecraft
• List of space debris producing events

References

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.
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.
7. 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. "World Civil Satellites 1957-2006". Space Security Index. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
11. 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.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
14. Paul Marks (23 September 2011). "Second big satellite set to resist re-entry burn-up". New Scientist. Retrieved 25 September 2014.