From the beginning of the space age, the number of debris in Earth’s orbit has become a growing concern. This increase poses potential hazards both on Earth, due to the eventual decay of orbital debris, and in space, due to the risk of collisions between orbiting bodies. Understanding the re-entry and demise of space debris is crucial for improving predictive models and mitigating risks on ground. Additionally, there is a pressing need to minimize the generation of new debris by incorporating this consideration into the design phase of missions and satellites—an approach known as Design-for-Demise (D4D). The Destructive Re-entry Assessment Container Object (DRACO) mission aims to enhance our understanding of spacecraft debris re-entry through a dedicated flight experiment, addressing uncertainties in breakup processes.