Chinese rocket breakup creates large field of space debris in low Earth orbit

The upper stage of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket fragmented into over 700 pieces in low Earth orbit following its launch on August 6, 2024, as confirmed by U.S. Space Command on August 8, posing a significant threat to orbital safety.

A Chinese Long March 6A rocket’s upper stage has fragmented into over 700 pieces in low Earth orbit (LEO), creating a significant risk to orbital safety. The incident occurred following the rocket’s launch on August 6, from the Taiyuan spaceport, which carried 18 Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) satellites to an 800 km (497 miles) altitude polar orbit.

The rocket’s upper stage, modified to deploy multiple satellites, was initially detected to have created a debris field of at least 50 pieces on August 7, according to Slingshot Aerospace, a space-tracking and data analytics firm.

LeoLabs, a company monitoring low Earth orbit, later reported that its radar data indicated “at least 700 debris fragments and potentially more than 900.” This debris cloud is aligned with the plane of the 18 deployed satellites, which could pose long-term problems for orbital safety.

The debris field created at an altitude of approximately 800 km (497 miles) will persist for several years according to Leo Labs.

The Long March 6A rocket, developed by the state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), has a dry mass of approximately 5 800 kg (12 787 pounds) and has flown seven times since its debut launch in March 2022.

U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) confirmed that the rocket had broken up on August 8, tracking over 300 pieces of debris from the incident.

Neither SAST, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), nor the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have said anything about the incident.

This was the second time a Long March 6A upper stage has broken up in orbit, with a previous event in November 2022 resulting in 533 cataloged fragments by January 2023.

The European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office estimated that there have been more than 640 break-ups, explosions, collisions, or anomalous events in space, contributing to the growing problem of space debris. The office estimates that there are approximately 40 500 objects greater than 10 cm (3.9 inches), 1 100 000 objects between 1 cm (0.4 inches) and 10 cm, and 130 million objects from 1 mm to 1 cm (0.04 inches to 0.4 inches) currently orbiting Earth.

“What we are seeing now is there are over 1 100 predicted conjunctions of less than 5 km (3.1 miles) miss distances over the next three days,” said Audrey Schaffer, vice president of strategy at Slingshot Aerospace, adding that about a third of these objects are active spacecraft capable of maneuvering to avoid collisions. The rest are uncontrollable pieces of space debris, raising concerns about potential cascading collisions.

“Frankly, it’s disappointing that the rocket had the same issue again. These kinds of debris-generating events that are potentially avoidable should not occur anymore,” Schaffer added.

The August 6 launch was significant as it was the first deployment for a planned low Earth orbit communications mega constellation known as G60, or Qianfan. Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), the company behind the Qianfan constellation, plans to launch over 14 000 satellites. SSST has not responded to requests for comment regarding the recent rocket breakup.

The Shanghai Institute of Aerospace Systems Engineering drafted “Detailed requirements for launch vehicle orbital stage disposal” in 2023 in response to growing concerns about space debris. These guidelines, include standards for deorbiting spent stages, passivation to prevent explosions, and limiting the time rocket stages remain in orbit. These standards were set to be implemented by January 1, 2024.

References:

¹ Chinese rocket stage breaks up into cloud of more than 700 pieces of space debris – SpaceNews – August 9, 2024

² Chinese rocket’s breakup puts over 1,000 satellites and other objects at risk – Reuters – August 10, 2024

Featured image credit: Slingshot Aerospace