China's Rocket Debris May Stay In Orbit For Decades, Experts Warn

After accomplishing a noteworthy milestone of launching 18 Qianfan satellites, China's Long March 6A rocket broke apart on August 6, producing almost 300 pieces of trackable debris in low Earth orbit.

The first wave of these satellites was supposed to form China's "own version of Elon Musk's Starlink," the Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") broadband network. The rocket was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, located in the Shanxi Province of North China.

A report by The Wall Street Journal states that the breakup of the rocket generated a new concern over Beijing's attitude towards space junk.

Also Read | China Rocket Ends Up As 300-Piece Space Junk After Satellite Constellation Launch

The report quoted LeoLabs, a US space-tracking firm, as saying the event might create at least 700 fragments floating some 500 miles above earth, making it one of the largest rocket breakups in history. Starlink said the debris didn't pose significant immediate risks to its fleet, but the fragments are “likely to remain in space for decades due to the incident occurring at a high altitude."

#USSPACECOM statement on the break-up of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket: pic.twitter.com/Kf5cz0iZky — U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) August 8, 2024

China and other countries are pressing ahead with plans to increase rocket launches, raising risks for humans and satellites in orbit. Yet there is little global policing of unsustainable practices.

“Who can enforce anything in space? It's a bit like the Wild West at times," Quentin Parker, director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong, told WSJ.

Darren McKnight, senior technical fellow at LeoLabs, said China's recent record on generating debris related to Long March 6 launches was worrisome. “I hope it's a wake-up call for them, and they'll be part of the international dialogue," he said.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, said last week that China “attaches great importance to space debris mitigation" and “has taken active efforts to fulfill relevant international obligations." Without giving details, he said China took necessary measures after the recent rocket breakup.

It also said in the report that the Chinese activities in space are pointing toward a worrisome tendency in the direction of space junk. In 2022, a rocket stage from China had an uncontrolled re-entry into the Sulu Sea, wherein NASA criticised it for less-than-adequate data provision. Major pieces of junk have been created by Chinese rocket launches, including Long March 6A missions, which are notorious for their bad history. While other countries did better, Chinese behavior was largely responsible for space debris that affects low-Earth orbit environments.