Another out-of-control Chinese rocket is raising concerns, a year after one of Beijing’s spaceships spewed debris over the Indian Ocean.
Experts fear that part of a 21-ton Long March 5B rocket, which was launched into space on Sunday, may not burn up completely when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.
It would then fall to the surface in an uncertain location and at high speed.
Although the chances of debris reaching a populated area are very low, many experts think China is taking an unnecessary risk.
The country’s last rocket took off at the weekend from the Wenchang launch site in the southern island province of Hainan.
It carried a new solar-powered laboratory, the Wentian Experiment Module, to be added to China’s growing Tiangong space station.
However, experts are concerned that parts of the rocket’s center stage could fall to Earth, in a repeat of China’s launch last May, which saw debris scattered across the Indian Ocean.
At the time, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson accused China of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding its space debris,” including minimizing risks during reentry and being transparent about operations.
Another out-of-control Chinese rocket is raising concerns, a year after one of Beijing’s spaceships spewed debris over the Indian Ocean.
Experts fear debris from a 21-tonne Long March 5B rocket, which launched into space on Sunday (pictured), may not burn up completely when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.
WHAT IS TIANGONG?
China’s space station is called “Tiangong”, which means “Heavenly Palace”.
Tiangong consists of several different modules that are being released one by one.
In April 2021, the core module, called “Tianhe”, was released. The first crew arrived at Tianhe two months later.
In July 2022, Wentian, a smaller module where research experiments will be conducted, attached to Tianhe.
In October 2022, a second research laboratory module, Mengtian, will also be attached to Tianhe. When it does, Tiangong Space Station will be complete.
Two other spacecraft that can dock at the station, Shenzhou and Tianzhou, carry crew and cargo, respectively, and are not considered part of the station itself.
China also plans to launch Xuntian, a space telescope that would co-orbit with the space station, in 2024.
The rocket’s first stage fell apart during launch and will continue to loop around Earth for the next few days as it gradually falls back to the surface.
Experts say its flight path is difficult to predict because of fluctuations in the atmosphere caused by changes in solar activity.
Jonathan McDowell, an experienced tracker at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said data from the US Space Command shows that the rocket’s first stage floats on its own.
“The inert stage…of the core remains in orbit and was not actively deorbited,” he tweeted.
China’s rocket problem is rooted in the risky design of the country’s launch process.
Discarded rocket stages typically re-enter the atmosphere shortly after liftoff, usually over water, and do not enter orbit.
However, the Long March 5B rocket does.
China has previously rejected accusations of irresponsibility, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying the likelihood of harm to anyone or anything on the ground is “extremely low”.
Many scientists agree with China that the odds of the debris causing serious damage are minuscule, though others think launch designs like the Long March 5B are an unnecessary risk.
Last May, one of the country’s Long March rockets exploded on re-entry over the Indian Ocean north of the Maldives, prompting speculation that it might crash into a populated area in land
It eventually fell into the ocean, but Nelson still issued a strong statement saying, “Space nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth from incoming space objects and maximize transparency about to these operations.”
“It is clear that China is not meeting responsible standards for its space debris.”
In 2020, parts of the first Long March 5B fell in Côte d’Ivoire, damaging several buildings but causing no injuries.
The Tiangong space station, currently under construction, is seen in this artist’s rendering
The Wenchang Space Launch Center is a rocket launch site on Hainan Island, China
Wentian, a research laboratory dedicated to science and biology experiments, has already docked with the main body of the space station, called Tianhe.
It will be followed by a second research laboratory module, Mengtian, which will be launched in October this year.
When Mengtian joins the rest of Tiangong, construction of the space station will finally be complete, although Beijing also plans to launch Xuntian, a space telescope that would co-orbit with the space station, in 2024.
Tiangong (meaning “heavenly palace”) will rival the aging International Space Station (ISS), which is operated by the space agencies of the US, Canada, Russia, Japan and Europe.
It will consist of three modules, although two other spacecraft, Shenzhou and Tianzhou, carrying crew and cargo respectively, can also dock at the station.
Once completed, the Tiangong space station will weigh about 66 tons, much smaller than the ISS, which launched its first module in 1998 and weighs about 450 tons.
It is expected to have a useful life of at least 10 years.
CHINA LAUNCHES PLANS TO BECOME A SPACE SUPERPOWER WITH MISSIONS TO MARS AND THE MOON
Chinese space agency officials are working to become a space superpower alongside the US and Russia.
They’ve already sent the first lander to explore the far side of the Moon, sharing photos of the part of our nearest neighbor we rarely see as part of the Chang’e-4 mission.
In November 2020, they sent the Chang’e-5 space probe to the Moon to collect and return the first samples of lunar soil in 45 years.
This was done in collaboration with the European Space Agency which provided tracking information for the Chinese spacecraft.
Chang’e-6 will be the first mission to explore the Moon’s south pole and is expected to launch in 2023 or 2024.
Chang’e-7 will study the Earth’s surface, composition and space environment in a global mission, according to the Chinese space authority, while Chang’e-8 will focus on technical analysis of the surface.
China is also working on building a lunar base using 3D printing technology and sending a future manned mission to the surface.
Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for this as it strives to verify the technology intended for the project.
The CNSA is also building a space station in Earth orbit where Chinese astronauts will conduct scientific experiments, similar to the crew of the International Space Station.
The agency also launched a mission to Mars in summer 2020 and landed a rover on the red planet in May 2021.
China is also said to be working on a project to build a solar power generator in space, which would send power to Earth and become the largest man-made object in orbit.
They also have a number of ambitious space science projects, including satellites to look for signs of gravitational waves and Earth observation spacecraft to monitor climate change.