Space debris present many problems, such as collisions with functional spacecraft and safety hazards. There is virtually no data on the reentry and breakup of space debris and current computer simulations do not corroborate well with reentry phenomena. Prediction of aerodynamic forces on high altitude orbiting and reentering space debris are necessary for understanding reentry trajectories. A technique for generating accurate aerodynamic forces in the free-molecular flow regime altitudes of low earth orbit (LEO) is presented; forces and torques are calculated using analytical equations. Orbital decay analysis is presented to the point of inevitable reentry for different spacecraft shapes.
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