HELSINKI — The upper stage of China’s Long March 6A rocket appears to be producing a lot of space debris, making the orbital debris problem even more serious.
The latest Long March 6A rocket was launched from a specially constructed launch pad at Taiyuan Spaceport on July 4. Measuring 50 meters in length and weighing 530 tonnes, the rocket is equipped with two kerosene liquid oxygen stages and four solid-fuel side boosters.
The rocket, developed by the state-run Shanghai Academy of Aerospace Technology (SAST), successfully launched two Tianhui-5 (02) remote-sensing satellites into a near-circular, sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers.
S2a Systems, a Swiss company that develops and operates customized systems for optical space surveillance worldwide. was detected A series of objects surrounding the Long March 6A upper stage.
The nature and cause of the debris is unknown but may be related to stage deactivation or insulation failure.
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Domain Surveillance system recorded no debris associated with the upper stage, suggesting the objects were very small, and S2a Systems noted that such clouds of objects are not visible during other rocket launches.
But while the object is small, it is moving at about seven kilometers per second and poses a threat to spacecraft.
The S2a system was also detected. 60 objects This surrounds the Long March 6A upper stage rocket, which was launched in late March.
Space debris is becoming increasingly important and can pose a threat to satellites, spacecraft and space stations. There are 40,500 pieces of space debris larger than 10 centimeters in orbit, and 1.1 million objects between 1 centimeter and 10 centimeters in size, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Latest figures Since June of this year, the ESA’s Space Debris Office has estimated that space debris
According to ESA statistics, there have been more than 640 breakups, explosions, collisions and anomalies that led to fragmentation.
Government agencies, companies and other organisations Orbital Debris Management and Mitigation.
The Long March 6A incident highlights how commercial entities are contributing to space situational awareness, as well as amateur astronomers and radio enthusiasts. Helping you track major space events.
Upper stage problems hit space mission
There were some issues with the upper stage this week that affected the mission. Ariane 6 first launch An issue occurred with the rocket’s upper stage being unable to reignite, affecting plans to end the mission.
Chinese Commercial Hyperbora 1 rocket loses payload After an anomaly occurred in the fourth stage late on July 10th.
Falcon 9 rocket upper stage engine Broken On July 11th, the Starlink constellation may be lost.
China has launched the Long March 6A rocket six times. The first launch took place in March 2022. The upper stage of the second launch, in November of the same year, Shattered into a cloud of debris.
The launch vehicle is China’s first rocket to combine both China’s new kerosene/liquid oxygen and solid fuel capabilities.
With a diameter of 3.35 metres, the rocket bears little resemblance to the standard Long March 6, which has a diameter of 2.25 metres. Further launches of the Long March 6A are planned in the coming months.
China is also Long March 6C It was launched in May of this year. This rocket uses a 6A core stage without side boosters.
China is aiming for about 100 launches this year, about 30 of which are planned by commercial launch service providers, according to CASC, SAST’s parent company and China’s leading space contractor.
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