China's Rocket Debris Increases, Now Reaches 800 Sheets In Space

Illustration of debris in space (photo: dock. ESA)

JAKARTA The top stage of China's Long March 6A rocket, which delivered 18 satellites into orbit, was reportedly broken on August 7. Initially, only tens of debris were found, but now it has increased to hundreds. Slingshot Aerospace, a space tracking company, discovered more than 50 Long March 6A rocket debris on August 8. The debris was on the orbital path of the Qianfan or G60 satellite and was traveling at a speed of 7.5 kilometers per second. However, the latest report from LeoLabs reveals that the top stage of Long March 6A left 800 debris in orbit. The company monitoring the orbit said that the crash did not occur on August 7, but August 6. "We are actively monitoring and analyzing the break-up events involving Chinese rocket bodies, CZ-6A," LeoLabs said via platform X. "This event resulted in at at least 700 debris fragments and possibly more than 900." At an altitude 800 kilometers from the Earth's surface, the debris is located at a location with minimal atmospheric drag. That is, hundreds of these debris will continue to be in orbit for decades, depending on the size and density of its debris.

Prior to the incident the Long March 6A rocket occurred, the Department of Space Puings in the European Space Agency (ESA) said that Earth's orbit was surrounded by hundreds of millions of garbage of various sizes. However, the size is relatively small. More than 40,500 objects are more than 10 cm in size, more than 1,100,000 objects measuring 1 cm to 10 cm, and more than 130 million objects have a size of 1 mm to 1 cm. With the emergence of the upper stage fraction of Long March 6A, it is certain that the number of objects will increase. This is a serious problem and must be addressed immediately. The more garbage in space, the more difficult it is also spacecraft or astronauts moving freely. The collisional risks that cause explosions will also increase in space.