Whatever goes up, must come down. So, who is liable for space debris when it does finally come crashing back to Earth?
It's assessed on a case-by-case basis but that could come with a big price tag, space lawyer and professor Melissa de Zwart told 9news.com.au.
Space junk has made headlines over the past couple of months across the country, from a barnacle-encrusted cylinder found in WA to a mysterious light that was spotted soaring across the sky over Victoria last night.
So, what happens when it falls?
Orbital debris, or "space junk" is monitored by multiple agencies across the globe, including LeoLabs here in Australia.
Who pays for the clean-up depends on where it lands, if there is damage, and crucially, what the debris is, De Zwart said.
"If there is damage on the surface of the Earth, international law says that, the liability is to what they call the launching state," she said.
"If a rocket is launched by India, India will be liable. If it's like a SpaceX rocket, it will be the liability of the United States.
"The liability under international law attaches to states, not to companies."
These laws fall under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and 1972 Liability Convention which were adopted by the United Nations.
For example, the Australian Space Agency has taken over the ongoing assessment and identification of the object in WA.
They have determined the object is most likely a solid rocket motor casing and will now engage with its global counterparts around next steps, including where it originally came from and whether the debris would need to be returned.
"It's a discussion that would be had between the space agency that's representing the Australian government with the government of the launching state," De Zwart said.
"It's hard to tell from the pictures to what sort of state it is in, but there would be a discussion about whether they want that returned to them.
"They might say, it's fine and it can go into a museum, or it can be placed somewhere where it's safe.
"It's really case by case."
Space rubbish: The cluttered final frontier
The Earth's orbit is crowded with many human-made objects, including working and defunct satellites, along with debris from missiles or rockets.
NASA believes there are about 100 million pieces of debris orbiting the earth that are smaller than a millimetre and about 23,000 pieces larger than a softball.
More than 27,000 pieces of debris are currently being tracked by US sensors.
Meanwhile, about 6,000 active satellites, some larger than a shoe-box are being tracked by LeoLabs.
What does this mean for the future?
With a growing number of organisations interacting and exploring space, there's a worry more debris could come hurtling back down in the coming years.
But De Zwart said as we evolve so do the rules and regulations of space.
"We are getting better at actually putting in place what is going to happen with that stuff when it gets (into space)," she said.
"If we think about SpaceX and other companies now, they are using reusable rockets, as you can imagine, that is a massive step forward in terms of not creating this sort of hazard.
"Previously, traditional rocket stages will fall off as the rocket goes up towards orbit, and you had lots of rocket bodies falling into the ocean.
"Now, if those rocket bodies can actually be returned to the launch place and reused, that is removing a lot of the risk of space debris. Also there are space debris mitigation guidelines, which have been put in place by the United Nations.
"Increasingly they are being used by launches in their design of things."
De Zwart said many companies are also developing technology to remove space debris.
"If we want to keep using space, and using it more and more, we are going to have to treat space as an environment and environmental issue in the same way that we treat, you know, precious places here on Earth."
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