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Sub-orbital Debris

Only a small fraction of space debris that re-enters the atmosphere reaches the Earth, which means that most of the debris burns up. The question is, how much of this debris is there, what is it made of and what do the combustion products do to the atmosphere, particularly the ozone layer.

Contributing to marine pollution

Some space junk doesn’t get into orbit and technically is called Launch Debris. This includes the first stage rockets and propellant tanks. Many of these fall into the ocean, contributing to the problems of ocean pollution. See this page… Below, a man points to a bit of the Arianespace Soyuz ST VS 04 rocket that was carrying the Pléiades 1B satellite, washed up on a beach in Barbados, not too far from where it was launched, in Belize.