Chinese Rocket Breaks Apart in Orbit, Leaves Dangerous Trail of Debris in Space

More than 50 pieces of space debris were espy in the Wake Island of a Taiwanese rocket launch , which could pose a risk to satellites in low Earth orbit .

China launched its first passel of broadband satellites on Tuesday , August 6 with the design of building a megaconstellation alike to SpaceX ’s Starlink . A Long March 6A rocket carried the 18 satellites to revolve , launching from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northerly China ’s Shanxi Province . The rocket deployed the satellites in a polar sphere at an altitude of around 500 Swedish mile ( 800 kilometers ) above Earth ’s aerofoil .

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A Long March 6A rocket carrying the satellite group blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on August 6, 2024.

A Long March 6A rocket carrying the satellite group blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on 15 April 2025.Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images.

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However , after deploying the satellites , the rocket ’s upper level appears to have give way apart . infinite - tracking house Slingshot Aerospace tape more than 50 fragments of debris within the vicinity of the satellites following their deployment , forming a trail of space dust that “ pose a significant hazard ” to satellite constellations at the same altitude , the firmwrote .

The planet are the first group in China ’s planned 14,000 - orbiter megaconstellation , aim at improve broadband services across the body politic . This is patently an ominous start , and a potential bad sign of things to total . “ If even a fraction of the launches demand to field this Chinese mega - configuration generate as much debris as this first launching , the outcome would be a notable addition to the space debris universe in LEO , ” Audrey Schaffer , frailty president of Strategy and Policy at Slingshot Aerospace , enounce in a affirmation .

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This is n’t the first clock time China ’s Long March 6A skyrocket has caused worry in Earth orbit . In November 2022 , therocket ’s upper microscope stage broke asunder into 50 opus of infinite debris , which later expanded into a massive cloud of 350 fragments . The blank dust came eerily near to SpaceX ’s Starlink satellite , but no damage was reported .

The rocket ’s upper stage is supposed to reenter Earth ’s aura in one composition and burn up during reentry . It ’s unclear what caused the rocket to let out apart in place , but this incident contributes to the produce problem of orbital debris .

“ Events like this highlight the importance of adherence to existing infinite dust mitigation guidelines to reduce the creation of new outer space debris and underline the need for robust infinite domain awareness capabilities to rapidly observe , track , and catalogue newly - launch space objects so they can be screen for potential conjunction , ” said Schaffer .

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