A Giant Piece of Space Junk From a Chinese Rocket Is Hurtling Towards Earth – Here’s How Worried You Should Be - SciTechDaily

A large piece of space debris, possibly weighing several tonnes, is currently on an uncontrolled reentry phase (that’s space speak for “out of control”), and parts of it are expected to crash down to Earth over the next few weeks.

The debris is part of the Long March 5B rocket that recently successfully launched China’s first module for its proposed space station.

The incident comes roughly a year after another similar Chinese rocket fell to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean but not before it reportedly left a trail of debris in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire.

At the time, experts noted this was one of the largest pieces of human-made debris ever to fall to Earth.

We cannot say with certainty what fate awaits this latest piece of space junk.

Australia already holds the record in the category of “who can be hit by the biggest piece of space junk.” In 1979, the 77-tonne US space station SkyLab disintegrated over Western Australia, peppering the area around the southern coastal town of Esperance with fragments.

At the time, the event was met with excitement and a sense of lightheartedness, and many pieces were collected by space enthusiasts.

Although there have been no recorded deaths or serious injuries from people being hit by space debris, that’s no reason to think it’s not dangerous.

Since the late 1970s, pieces of space debris have fallen to Earth regularly and are viewed with increasing concern.

In 2007, pieces of debris from a Russian satellite narrowly missed a Chilean passenger plane flying between Santiago and Auckland.

As we send more objects into space, the chances of a calamitous crash-landing will only increase.

International law sets out a compensation regime that would apply in many circumstances of damage on Earth, as well as when satellites collide in space.

The 1972 Liability Convention, a UN treaty, imposes liability on “launching states” for damage caused by their space objects, which includes an absolute liability regime when they crash to Earth as debris.

Other international guidelines regarding debris mitigation and long-term sustainability of space activities set out voluntary standards intended to limit the probability of collisions in space, and minimize the breakup of satellites either during or after their missions.

Most of the millions of pieces of space junk are destined either to orbit in an uncontrollable manner for many years or, if they are in low Earth orbit, to gradually descend towards the Earth, hopefully burning up in the atmosphere before contact with terra firma?

A globally coordinated space traffic management system will be vital to avoid collisions that would result in loss of control of satellites, leaving them to tumble helplessly in orbit or fall back to Earth?

But, ultimately, global cooperation is essential if we are to avoid an unsustainable future for our space activities.