United Kingdom, Feb. 20 -- A failed SpaceX rocket re-entry gas been linked to a plume of lithium detected high above Earth, marking what researchers say is the first direct connection between a specific piece of space debris and measurable atmospheric pollution.

Professor Robin Wing of the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, and colleagues were already studying pollution caused by falling space debris when a SpaceX Falcon 9 malfunctioned in flight on 19 February 2025.

As the rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere, it disintegrated into fireballs visible over Ireland, England and Germany before debris fell to the ground, including a 1.5m by 1m fragment discovered behind a warehouse in Komorniki, Poland. The uncontrolled re-entry prov...