The remote possibility that an uncontrolled re-entry of orbital debris, also called space debris, could endanger civil airspace falls far outside normal experience. Space debris is defined at the international level as “all man-made objects, including fragments and elements thereof, in Earth orbit or re-entering the atmosphere, that are non-functional.”1
Before initiating controlled spacecraft re-entries, U.S. programs must demonstrate that the probability of human casualty from the “surviving” debris — that is, debris not rendered harmless by atmospheric demise (objects being consumed by burning) — will not be greater than 1 chance in 10,000, says the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).2
In January, a de-orbiting spacecraft inspired the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) and Eurocontrol to direct the world’s attention to orb…
