How fallen space junk could aid the fight against orbital debris - Space.com

(Image credit: The Aerospace Corporation) Also adding his voice to the incoming debris diagnosis is Darren McKnight, a senior technical fellow at LeoLabs, a company that has built radars worldwide to provide unique measurements and data products that enhance space safety in low Earth orbit.

Those parameters include the object's initial mass, the nature of its insulation protection, its orbital velocity, reentry flight path angle and breakup sequence, among others.

"What is clear from all these cases is that the carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) wrapping was usually still tightly attached, although the matrix part has been mainly pyrolyzed," Looten said.

Only the top carbon fiber layers of incoming space junk tend to suffer delamination and spallation, a process in which fragments of material are ejected from a body due to impact or stress, Looten told Space.com.

Looten is looking into maximizing "composite structure termination" — selecting specific material combinations that should allow a complete and rapid separation and demise of a spacecraft's external panel upon reentry.

"We call on your agencies, working with your states' foreign ministries, to initiate multilateral negotiations on a controlled reentry agreement, starting with rocket bodies.