China’s Messy Megaconstellation Rocket Launch Litters Space Junk In Low-Earth Orbit
While SpaceX most often makes launching low-Earth satellites easy, even the Musk-owned company has run into issues. Such was the case when a Falcon 9 engine failure dropped satellites in the wrong orbit last month. Even NASA has had its recent troubles when it comes to things such as space debris, as it was hit with an $80K lawsuit after ISS space debris crashed into a Florida home. So, while the recent Chinese rocket launch debacle has left over 300 pieces of trackable debris, it is not all that surprising. Still, it still gives many reasons for concern.
“If even a fraction of the launches needed to field this Chinese mega-constellation generate as much debris as this first launch, the result would be a notable addition to the space debris population in LEO,” remarked Audrey Schaffer, Vice President of Strategy and Policy of Slingshot Aerospace. “Events like this highlight the importance of adherence to existing space debris mitigation guidelines to reduce the creation of new space debris and underscore the need for robust space domain awareness capabilities to rapidly detect, track, and catalog newly-launched space objects so they can be screened for potential conjunctions.”
In a post on X, the US Space Command confirmed the break-up of the Chinese Long March 6A rocket. While USSPACECOM has not identified any immediate threats, it reports it will continue to monitor and assess the situation to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain.
SpaceX’s Starlink also issued its own statement on X. The space company remarked, “The Starlink team is closely monitoring the debris created by a mishap of the upper stage of the Long March 6A rocket.” The company noted its own recent mishap, but added, “…however, our strategy to drop off Starlink satellites below 300km (and operating at low altitudes in general) helped ensure that any debris released from that event re-entered within days. And by design, Starlink satellites fully demise upon return, posing no threat to public safety.”
Slingshot Aerospace did also note that this was not the first time a Long March 6 satellite launch has generated debris in LEO. In the fall of 2022, a Long March 6 breakup led to hundreds of pieces of space junk as reported by NASA. Schaffer added in an email interview with Space.com, “Events like this highlight the importance of adherence to existing space debris mitigation guidelines to reduce the creation of new space debris and underscore the need for robust space domain awareness capabilities to rapidly detect, track and catalog newly launched space objects so they can be screened for potential conjunctions.”
