Space systems — Re-entry risk management for uncrewed spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages

This document provides a framework to assess, reduce and control the potential risks that spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages (referred to hereinafter as “space vehicles”) pose to people and the environment when those space vehicles re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and impact the Earth’s surface. It applies to the planning, design and review of space vehicle missions for which controlled or uncontrolled re-entry is inevitable.

This document applies to the following objects when assessing their risk to the ground:

1. objects re-entering from orbit;
2. launch vehicles (including payloads, other objects separated during the ascent phase, etc.) that are mentioned in flight safety activities under ISO 14620-2:2019[1], 6.2;
3. interplanetary spacecraft returning to Earth.

This document does not apply to systems with wings and control functions intended for targeted landing.

This document assumes that the main specifications and operational procedures for ensuring safety on the ground against the re-entry of spacecraft containing radioactive material have already been determined in the mission requirements definition stage, system definition stage, operational concept definition stage, etc. Therefore, apart from matters related to re-entry safety, the main parts of the mission design and operational concept of spacecraft containing radioactive material are outside the scope of this standard.