August 7, 2024
Chinese rocket breaks apart after megaconstellation launch
The Aug. 7 incident created more than 300 pieces of trackable debris. The first launch for a coming Chinese internet megaconstellation turned out to be quite messy.
On Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), a Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched the first 18 satellites for the Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") broadband network, which will eventually host up to 14,000 spacecraft.
The rocket successfully delivered the satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). But its upper stage broke apart shortly thereafter, generating a cloud of debris that's now racing around our planet, according to United States Space Command (USSPACECOM). Image Credit: This composite image, from Slingshot Aerospace’s low Earth orbit-focused Horus optical fences, shows a series of bright, unexpected objects moving along the same orbital path as a Long March 6A rocket body and the 18 Qianfan satellites it deployed on Aug. 6, 2024. These objects are part of the debris cloud spawned by the breakup of the rocket body. (Image credit: Slingshot Aerospace)
Low Earth Orbit
More details »General