A Chinese rocket that exploded in space last week produced more than 700 pieces of debris, endangering more than 1,000 satellites and other objects in Earth's crowded orbit, analysts said Friday.
China's state-owned Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) on Tuesday launched 18 internet satellites into orbit, kicking off the first phase of a communications network that will compete with SpaceX's Starlink constellation.
The upper stage of the rocket carrying the satellites apparently exploded shortly after its payload was released, creating a growing debris field. A US space tracking company estimates that there are now at least 700 pieces of debris.
SSST did not respond to a request for comment.
US space tracking company LeoLabs said the number of debris likely exceeded 900, making it one of the largest ever. The debris cloud, which formed at an altitude of about 800 kilometers (500 miles), is expected to persist for years, analysts said.
It is unclear whether the latest rocket breakup was caused by a collision with another object or the explosion of unused rocket fuel. The U.S. Space Command initially reported that the event created 300 pieces of debris, and that number is expected to rise as the debris cloud spreads.
More than 1,100 satellites and other objects in space are at risk of colliding with Chinese debris, Audrey Schaffer, vice president of strategy at space tracking firm Slingshot Aerospace, told Reuters.
“What we're seeing now is over 1,100 predicted conjunctions with collision distances of less than 5 km in the next three days,” Schaffer said, adding that about a third of those at risk are active spacecraft that could potentially maneuver to avoid them.
Schaffer explained that the other objects are uncontrollable pieces of space junk that have no way of avoiding new debris. As a result, many analysts are worried about a series of collisions.
China’s Long March 6A rocket section in 2022 also disintegrated in space, creating hundreds of pieces of debris. The incident prompted criticism from Western nations and space sustainability advocates, who called for Beijing to take more control over how spent rocket bodies are disposed of.
“It's frankly very disappointing that the rocket had the same problem again,” Schaffer said. “A potentially avoidable debris event like this should never happen again.” (ah/ft)
