Chinese rocket failure scatters debris, threatens low Earth orbit

A Chinese Long March 6A rocket broke apart into pieces. According to the American company Slingshot Aerospace, the debris may threaten low Earth orbit below 500 miles. This incident is not the first recent failure of a Chinese rocket.

One of the Chinese Long March 6A rockets malfunctioned, causing it to break into pieces. As CNN reports, the rocket launched 18 communication satellites into orbit on Tuesday. These satellites are part of the Qianfan Xingzuo project, which means "Constellation of a Thousand Sails." This system is intended to respond to SpaceX's Starlink.

The project is overseen by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). Ultimately, the constellation is expected to consist of 1,296 satellites, with the possibility of expanding to approximately 14,000.

The rocket's failure resulted in many small fragments in orbit. CNN journalists reached out to SSST for comment but did not receive a response. However, the United States Space Command offered a comment.

“USSPACECOM has not observed any direct threats and continues to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain,” commented a US Space Command spokesperson.

Rob Margetta, NASA's press officer, reported that the rocket's disintegration did not pose any threat to the International Space Station. Initially, the movement of 50 fragments was tracked. Now, US Space Command is tracking over 300 rocket elements. According to the organization LeoLabs, the event resulted in at least 700 fragments, possibly even more than 900.

The Chinese rocket was reported to break up at an altitude of approximately 500 miles above the Earth's surface. According to Slingshot Aerospace, the debris poses a "serious threat" to objects below that altitude. For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) orbits about 254 miles above the Earth.

The true level of threat posed by the debris cloud is not yet known. Experts will be able to estimate it only after a thorough analysis of the debris cloud. This may take a day or two. The cause of the rocket's disintegration is still unknown.

“The worst-case scenario is any piece of the debris field colliding with something orbiting the equator,” commented John L. Crassidis, Moog Professor of Innovation at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Buffalo, as cited by CNN. He added that objects will have a significant impact force when colliding with objects not in polar orbit – Chinese satellites orbit the poles of the Earth, not the equator.

“It's a T-shaped intersection scenario. Imagine two cars traveling at 17,000 miles per hour and colliding at a T-shaped intersection. Obviously, that's bad. Generally speaking, any object that appears in their path will still be a bad situation,” he added.

In 2022, the Long March 6A rocket body also exploded in the region of low Earth orbit. As a result, about 500 fragments appeared, spreading at altitudes between 200 and 932 miles.

At the end of June 2024, another Chinese rocket failed. This time, it was the Tianlong-3 carrier rocket, whose launch ended in disaster. The structure exploded a few seconds after launch. A few days earlier, another serious failure occurred—the Long March 2C rocket fell on one of China's villages. For these reasons, the Chinese space program is often criticized in the West for negligence and disregarding safety procedures.