Satellite internet: China's "Long March 6A" rocket causes space chaos

Once again there is trouble with a Chinese medium-range rocket of the type "Long March 6A". The rocket's top stage broke up on Tuesday during an attempt to launch 18 G60 satellites into space for the planned Qianfan (Thousand Sails) mega-constellation for broadband internet. The rocket stage was in low earth orbit (LEO). The resulting debris field contains at least 700 objects. The US Space Command (Spacecom) confirmed the incident on Thursday and referred to "over 300 trackable pieces of debris".

A short time later, LeoLabs, a company specializing in space situational awareness,said its radars had detected at least 700 objects caused by the breakup of Long March 6A. The number of debris could rise to over 900. According to the radar data, the accident occurred on 6 August at around 22:10 Central European Summer Time (20:10 UTC) at an altitude of around 810 kilometers, around 13.5 hours after the launch of the rocket in northern China.

In this region of space, it will take decades or centuries for the frictional resistance with particles in space and the gravitational pull of the Earth to bring the debris into the atmosphere, explains Ars Technica. During descent, there is a risk that the orbits of the debris will cross with other objects, which could lead to collisions. In addition to other satellites such as SpaceX's Starlink satellites, the debris could also collide with the International Space Station (ISS) and other objects, Ars Technica fears. Satellite observers from Slingshot Aerospace reported tracking over 50 pieces of space debris after the launch of the G60 satellites, "posing a significant risk to LEO constellations below 800 km altitude".

Not the first incident with the 6A

The Qianfan network launched by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) will initially consist of 1296 satellites, with an expansion to around 15,000 under discussion. If even a fraction of the launches required for this generate as much space debris as Tuesday's rocket, the result would be a "remarkable increase" in waste in LEO, Slingshot complains. This underlines the importance of adhering to existing guidelines to contain debris in space and the need for robust space surveillance capabilities.

According to Spacecom, it was initially unable to observe "any immediate threats". Routine assessments continue to be conducted to support safety and sustainability in space. On November 12, 2022, a 6A rocket exploded in the most densely populated region in LEO. The resulting 500+ fragments scattered over a distance of around 320 to 1500 km. A few days earlier, the main stage of the larger Chinese rocket "Long March 5B" had crashed uncontrollably over the South Pacific.

(nie)