Chinese rocket blows up in space casting a huge cloud of debris around Earth

A massive cloud of debris is moving around Earth after a Chinese rocket blew upin space. On Tuesday (Aug 6), the Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched18 satellites, delivering them to low Earth orbit (LEO), at an altitude of about 500 miles (800 kilometres). But, soon after, its upper stage broke apart and a cloud of debris spread all around. United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) says that the debris is now racing around our planet.

"USSPACECOM can confirm the breakup of a Long March 6A rocket launched on Aug. 6, 2024, resulting in over 300 pieces of trackable debris in low Earth orbit," it said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 8)Several smaller pieces are also likely moving around.

However, it confirmed that the debris does not pose any immediate threat.

"USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and continues to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain," it added.

The 18 satellites are part of a planned megaconstellation whereby more than 14,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites will be sent to space. The first set of satellites was for the Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") broadband network.

🚨 Slingshot Orbital Alert 🚨

Following China's launch of 18 G60 satellites on August 6th, Slingshot is tracking over 50 pieces of space debris that pose a significant hazard to LEO constellations below 800 km altitude. pic.twitter.com/Etmui8X5Po — Slingshot Aerospace (@sling_shot_aero) August 7, 2024

Slingshot Aerospace, a space-tracking and data analytics firm, also noted the presence of debris along the orbital path of the rocket body. However, it stated that they "pose a significant hazard to LEO constellations below 800 km altitude."

Also Read:Frightening new theory suggests the universe should have never been born

“Composite images from Slingshot’s LEO-focused Horus optical fences show a series of bright, unexpected objects moving along the same orbital path as the rocket body and the G60 satellites it deployed,” Slingshot Aerospace noted in a statement.

Dangers of space debris

The California-based company also raised concerns about future launches that will be done as part of the megaconstellation. Audrey Schaffer, vice president of strategy and policy at Slingshot, told Space.com in an emailed statement, "If even a fraction of the launches required to field this Chinese megaconstellation generates as much debris as this first launch, the result would be an untenable addition to the space debris population in LEO."

Notably, space debris at such altitudes can continue to hover around for several years, depending on the size. The situation can turn scary if they hit a spacecraft which can then lead to more debris moving at 7.5 kilometres per second, or 27,000 km per hour.

This is not the first time that the Long March 6A rocket has spread debris in space. In November 2022, an upper-stage breakup of the rocket created hundreds of pieces of debris. This happened after it had deployed the Yunhai-3 weather satellite.

Notably, according to NASA's "Orbital Debris Quarterly News" published in March 2023, 533 pieces of trackable debris were formed by January 2023. Any object that's at least four inches in diameter is termed trackable debris.