A shuttle launch to repair or retrieve an end-of-life satellite seems like it would prove rather worse for the environment with the thousand-plus tonnes of fuel

A shuttle launch to repair or retrieve an end-of-life satellite seems like it would prove rather worse for the environment with the thousand-plus tonnes of fuel, including solid fuel boosters and the 30 tonnes of burned-up fuel tank that also falls in the sea than dropping what remains of a compact car's (the Aeolus dry mass is 1200kg) worth of metal after an unshielded reentry.