Aliases

Disambiguation

Refers to the percentage of spacecraft/vehicle mass that survives atmospheric breakup and fragmentation during reentry, not to be confused with breakup percentages in other contexts (structural failure modeling, general fragmentation statistics).

Stats

Concept

Quantitative measure of the proportion of a spacecraft or vehicle that survives atmospheric reentry and fragmentation, typically expressed as a percentage of total mass.

Medida quantitativa da proporção de uma espaçonave ou veículo que sobrevive à reentrada atmosférica e fragmentação, tipicamente expressa como uma percentagem da massa total.

Enrichment

• ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Debris Reentry
  NASA▎ high· 2026-05-14
  • 10–40% of spacecraft mass typically survives reentry
  • Breakup altitude 72–84 km, nominal 78 km
  • Material composition determines survival rates
  • Debris casualty risk standard: <1 in 10,000
• ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | ORSAT
  NASA▎ high· 2026-05-14
  • ORSAT predicts reentry survivability of spacecraft components
  • Uses integrated trajectory, aerodynamic, aerothermodynamic, and thermal/ablation models
  • Determines demise via ablation heat thresholds
  • Validates compliance with 1:10,000 casualty risk standard
• ESA - Reentry and collision avoidance
  European Space Agency▎ high· 2026-05-14
  • ESA employs SCARAB tool for breakup and survival analysis
  • Reentry analysis critical for space safety and casualty risk assessment
  • Material properties fundamental to predicting debris survival