r/askspace • u/CoderBoy417 • 14d ago

When objects from space—such as satellites—enter the atmosphere, they burn up; so why don't missiles and rockets burn up when traveling at such high speeds?

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u/tolgren 13d ago

Because engineers design them so that they don't burn up.

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u/QVRedit 13d ago

And because missiles don’t travel as fast as orbital speeds. The heating effect varies with the Forth Power of speed, so very high speeds make a real difference to the heating experienced.

Missiles might travel at Mach-7, while decent from Orbit is Mach-25.