List of reentering space debris

This is a list of artificial objects reentering Earth's atmosphere by mass (see space debris).

[1][2][3] The list includes group entries for the 134 Space Shuttle external tanks used between 1981 and 2011.

During Space Shuttle launches, the tanks reached space without reaching orbit and re-entered the atmosphere, breaking apart before impacting the ocean.

The mass of those tanks varied throughout the years, as improvements made them lighter - successive modifications reduced their empty weight from approximately 77,000 pounds (35,000 kg) to approximately 58,500 lb (26,500 kg) for the Super Lightweight Tank used after 1998.

[5] Many other launch systems have discarded spent stages into space, but not all stages go into orbit or even reach space (by passing the Kármán line).