Jonathan's Space Pages

Catalog of Space Object Reentries

In this catalog I assess and categorize each reentry of a historical artificial space objects (payloads, rocket bodies, ejected parts but not fragmentation debris) to compare with present disposal standards.

• The Disposal Codes page explains the different kinds of satellite and rocket disposal tabulated below.
• The Stats section below summarizes the number of reentries of each kind, and the expected disposal type of each currently orbiting spacecraft.
• The data are in the Main Catalog and the columns in that catalog are explained in Column Descriptions
• There is also a tab-separated-value version of the Main Catalog and of the statistics summary

Statistical summary table [NOTE CAVEATS IN CODES.HTML!]

In the table below, rather than estimating casualty risk, we regard reentries of objects with masses greater than a threshold mass M0 as problematic.

For this edition of the table, M0 has been set to 5000 kg. Note that less massive objects, depending on design, may also pose a significant casualty risk.

Explanation of columns for this table

Updated: 2024 Jun 19 14:05:41

ReentryStats
Code	Desc	Clause	PL Disposed	PL Active	RB	Parts	Total free	PL Att Disp	Total
Disposal consistent with US ODMSP
D-SO	Down/SO Targeted	a1	2	0	471	18	491	0	491
D-DO	Down/Deorbited	a1	367	0	532	2013	2912	0	2912
D-LAND	Down/Landed	a1/f	2095	0	1	0	2096	0	2096
D-LEO25	Down/LEO Reentry <25yr, Low mass M<M0	b	3597	0	3298	6217	13112	279	13391
D-NL25	Down/LEO-crossing <25yr, Low mass M<M0	b	236	0	666	621	1523	8	1531
U-LEO25	Up/LEO <25yr expected,Low mass M<M0	b	1590	7073	130	43	8836	8	8844
U-NL25	Up/LEO-crossing <25yr expected, Low mass M<M0	b	2	0	14	13	29	2	31
U-MEO-E	MEO Graveyard (ell.)	c.I	25	5	200	110	340	4	344
U-MEO-C	MEO Graveyard (circ)	c.II	201	91	118	58	468	7	475
U-GGYD	GEO Graveyard	d	20	574	59	15	668	2	670
D-LUN	Down/Lunar	L	68	0	7	64	139	0	139
U-HEL	Heliocentric	a2	168	29	139	227	563	1	564
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Subtotal	Good disposal (see note below)	-	8371	7772	5635	9399	31177	311	31488
Other disposal
D-LEO25M	Down/LEO Reentry <25yr, Massive M>M0	-	35	0	97	0	132	3	135
U-LEO25M	Up/LEO <25yr expected, Massive M>M0	-	6	0	4	0	10	0	10
D-LEO	Down/LEO Reentry >25yr	-	37	0	47	72	156	0	156
D-NL	Down/LEO-crossing Reentry >25yr	-	23	0	42	60	125	1	126
U-LEO+	Up/LEO >25yr exceeded	-	1289	0	640	503	2432	14	2446
U-LEO	Up/LEO >25yr expected	-	818	381	217	359	1775	10	1785
U-NL+	Up/LEO-crossing >25yr exceeded	-	26	0	23	109	158	2	160
U-NL	Up/LEO-crossing >25yr expected	-	7	0	7	77	91	0	91
U-DEST	Destroyed	-	9	0	4	3	16	0	16
U-GTO	Crosses LEO and GEO	-	128	49	369	147	693	3	696
U-XMEO	Violates MEO rule	-	46	33	5	3	87	0	87
U-XGEO	Crosses GEO	-	39	0	124	43	206	1	207
U-GEO	In GEO	-	714	0	136	118	968	0	968
U-CISL	Cislunar	-	32	14	34	48	128	0	128
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Subtotal	Bad disposal	-	3209	477	1757	1547	6990	34	7024

Note: "Good disposal" means good from the point of view of risk for in-orbit debris collisions; can still be very "bad" from the point of view of ground casualty list for massive reentries.

Further caveats on the following items from US ODMSP Section 4-1:

• a(1): Casualty risk not addressed.
• b: Area-time rule and casualty risk not addressed.
• c.I: Perturbations not modelled
• c.II: Perturbations not modelled
• d: 100 km pad used as a proxy for unmodelled perturbations
• e: This clause (resonance deorbit) not addressed at all
• f: Not currently addressed except for intact spacecraft landings.
• Lunar disposal not mentioned in ODMSP.

Note: The ESA standard (ESSB-ST-U-007, 2023) and the ISO standard (ISO-24113, 2023) have generally similar requirements to the US standard, although the ISO standard restricts the GEO protected zone to inclinations of less than 15 degrees, and the ESA standard could use some improvements in clarity.