Space rocket debris now threatens Starlink satellites and the ISS. Something strange happened in space.
China’s light launch vehicle Long March-6A exploded in space and disintegrated into about 50 pieces. It happened a day after its launch at an altitude of about 500 km, that is, slightly above the orbit of the ISS, where several Starlink satellites are located, Forbes wrote.
Changzheng-6A launched into space a new Chinese satellite, designed for Earth observation called Yunhai-3. But something happened in space, and as a result of this event, the rocket exploded and fell.
The US military says that as a result of the disaster, at least 50 fragments of various sizes were formed, which became additional space debris in the Earth’s low Earth orbit.
“Observations of the rocket’s flight for several hours indicate that a fuel leak may have occurred. The second stage of the rocket fell into dozens of fragments that rapidly rotated and left a clearly visible trace in the sky,” said the experts.
The astronomer believes that these fragments of the Chinese rocket will still return to the Earth’s atmosphere, although it will take several years. And most likely the remains of the rocket will burn up in the atmosphere. But there is another problem: the debris will fly in approximately the same orbit as the ISS, which could threaten the safety of the orbital station.
Although it is not yet known exactly what happened to the launch of the Chinese vehicle into space. He may have found something else there.
Recall that Jeff Bezos’ previously unguided New Shepard Blue Origin space rocket failed shortly after launch and exploded, but the uncrewed capsule was successfully detached and parachuted to the desert floor.
The Antares rocket with Ukrainian components launched the Cygnus spacecraft into orbit
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Source: korrespondent
