�y��vlog

As well as brightening the sky and interfering with astronomy through their flashes and radio waves, satellites pollute the atmosphere on launch and on re-entry, as research from last October underscored.

But it's not just such remote sites that are impacted by satellites, which exert effects on the local and global environment both at launch and at re-entry.

"We're starting to see that we might be reversing some of the gains we've made from the Montreal Protocol through these increased rocket launch and re-entry rates," Barker said.

Their SpaceX capsule made a fast and fiery re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere, before four parachutes opened to take them to a gentle splashdown off the coast of Florida.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule will make a fast and fiery re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere, enduring temperatures of up to 1600C.