A review of airborne observations for space debris re-entry break-up and dispersion measurements

A review of airborne observations for space debris re-entry break-up and dispersion measurements

Airborne observations provide opportunities to collect rare and unique data from space debris re-entries. To date, six different observations of space debris have been undertaken, collecting spectral and spatial data to help understand debris break-up and dispersion. The data is important to help validate computational space debris break-up models. A particular focus to date has been on the spectral data collection, and results have helped understand the sequence of debris break-up by identifying individual elements as they are released in time. Due to the resourcing required, a limited amount of work has been undertaken on trajectory analysis for dispersion measurements. A noted downside of the observations to date is that all the resourcing has gone into the observations and data collection, and then relied on self-motivated researchers to undertake detailed analysis. The ever-increasing amount of space debris drives the need for a better understanding of space debris break-up and dispersion and there is a clear need for invaluable flight data for further model validation.

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-025-00608-9