A huge chunk of China’s Long March 5B rocket returned unchecked to Earth in the early hours of this Friday (4). The impact occurred in the Pacific Ocean, but previously the exact location of the crash was unknown, forcing the partial closure of Spanish airspace.
The Long March 5B was launched four days ago in southern China. Its mission was to deliver the third module to China’s Tiangong space station. However, a fragment of it broke off upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. The case reignited discussions about the importance of monitoring space debris.
Spanish air authorities even restricted the movement of planes in the northeast of the country, including Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. The safe zone took into account the area of 100 km on both sides of the orbit of the space object.
The equipment that fell from the sky is “one of the largest pieces of debris that can be walked on again [na atmosfera] in the recent past,” according to the European Union’s Operations Center for Space Surveillance and Positioning. It was about 30 meters long. To give you an idea, 23 tons is equivalent to about 25 common cars combined.
Chinese missile had no safety function
Confirmation that the rocket had landed in the Pacific Ocean was made at 7:01 a.m. Brasília time via the United States Space Command’s official Twitter account.
“#USSPACECOM confirms that the People’s Republic of China’s Long March 5B #CZ5B missile landed on 4/11. reentered the atmosphere over the south central Pacific at 4:01 MDT/10:01 UTC uncontrolled reentry we have referred you to the #PRC,” the message said.
This type of unplanned action is not recommended due to the high security risks. To avoid this, some rockets are reused after entering Earth’s atmosphere as in the case of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Others already have route detours that only guarantee the fall into the sea. However, Chinese devices offered none of these features.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded to the case. “It goes without saying that [este] This type of missile uses special technology designed to ablate the vast majority of components upon reentry into the atmosphere, and the likelihood of causing damage to aviation activities and the ground is extremely low,” Zhao confirmed.
Monitoring space debris or regulating the manner in which it enters the Earth irregularly is not part of international agreements. That said, future incidents like this are still possible.
“The reality is that there are no laws or international treaties that govern what you can do regarding reentry,” said Marlon Sorge, executive director of Aerospace Corporation’s Center for the Study of Orbital and Reentry Debris.
It’s not the first time
In recent years, launches by the China National Space Administration have caused other alarm situations. This was the fourth runaway space debris event in Earth’s atmosphere. In July of this year, a 25ton Long March 5B core crashed into the Indian Ocean.
Debris from another mission from the Tiangong space station fell into the sea as early as April 2021. In May 2020, parts of another vehicle landed on the ground in West Africa. Debris is estimated to have spread across Côte d’Ivoire.
And the Chinese space agency’s plans don’t stop there. Six more launches for the Long March 5B rocket are planned for mid2023.