It is easy to understand how the flame and power of rocket launches could cause air pollution. Less obvious is the air pollution caused by rocket parts, spacecraft and satellites re-entering the atmosphere.
A new global inventory has catalogued air pollution from space activities from 2020 to 2022. The inventory includes time, position and pollution from 446 launchers as they ascended and the tracks of re-entries as objects are heated to extreme temperatures and break up or burn up in the upper atmosphere.
