Chinese rocket disintegrates, sparks low Earth orbit debris threat

Chinese Long March 6A rocket broke up into pieces. According to the American company Slingshot Aerospace, the debris may pose a threat to low Earth orbit below 800 kilometres. At the same time, this is not the first failure of a Chinese rocket in recent times.

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

Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) is responsible for the project. Ultimately, the constellation is supposed to consist of 1,296 satellites with the possibility of expanding to about 14,000.

The rocket's failure dispersed numerous small fragments in orbit. CNN journalists reached out to SSST for comment but received no response. However, the U.S. Space Command did comment on the situation.

– 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 U.S. Space Command spokesperson.

Rob Margetta, NASA spokesperson, informed that the rocket's breakup did not pose any threat to the International Space Station. Initially, 50 fragments were tracked. Now, U.S. Space Command is tracking over 300 rocket elements. According to the organisation LeoLabs, the incident resulted in at least 700 fragments, possibly even more than 900.

The Chinese rocket reportedly broke up at an altitude of about 800 kilometres above the Earth's surface. According to Slingshot Aerospace, the debris poses a "serious threat" to objects below 800 kilometres. For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) orbits at about 400 kilometres above the Earth.

The danger associated with the debris cloud is not yet known. Experts can estimate it only after subjecting the debris cloud to a thorough analysis. This may take a day or two. The reason for the rocket's breakup is still unknown.

– The worst-case scenario is the collision of any part of the debris field with something moving around the equator – commented John L. Crassidis, Moog Innovation Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo, quoted by CNN. He added that the objects would have significant impact force when colliding with objects not in polar orbit – Chinese satellites orbit around the poles of the Earth, not in equatorial orbit.

The last case is comparable to a T-type intersection. Imagine two cars travelling at a speed of 27,000 km/h and colliding at a T-intersection. Clearly, that's bad. Generally speaking, any object that appears in their path will still be a bad situation – he added.

In 2022, there was also an explosion of the Long March 6A rocket's body in the low Earth orbit region. As a result, about 500 fragments appeared, spreading to altitudes between 300 and 1,500 kilometres.

At the end of June 2024, another Chinese rocket failure occurred. This time it was the Tianlong-3 launch vehicle, whose launch ended in disaster. The structure exploded within seconds after liftoff. A few days earlier, another serious failure occurred – the Long March 2C rocket fell on one of the Chinese villages. For these reasons, the Chinese space programme is often criticised in the West for negligence and disregard for safety-related procedures.