Space debrisCrashing Chinese Rocket Highlights Growing Dangers of Space Debris

Published 14 May 2021

This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics have attributed to poor planning by China. The event has shown the potential dangers that come from humanity’s expanding presence in space.

This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, have attributed to poor planning by China. Pieces of the rocket, dubbed Long March 5B, are believed to have splashed down in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, and no one was injured.

But the event has shown the potential dangers that come from humanity’s expanding presence in space, said Hanspeter Schaub, professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.

Schaub is an engineer with an eye for the myriad bits of junk that circle our planet—from meteors the size of grains of dust to manmade rocket stages as big as school buses. As humans launch more objects into space, he said, this debris may increasingly threaten the safety of satellites and human astronauts in orbit. In 2009, a decommissioned Russian satellite crashed into an active satellite called Iridium 33, sending a cloud of shrapnel hurtling around the planet. 

He sat down with Daniel Strain of  CU Boulder Today to talk about whether you should be worried about objects falling from space—and how emerging science fiction-esque technologies may soon play a role in removing space debris from orbit.

Daniel Strain: How common is it for an object like this rocket booster to crash back down to Earth?
Hanspeter Schaub
: Satellites and other objects in space do come down, sometimes within months, sometimes within years or decades after being launched. Most are designed to burn up in the atmosphere so that very few parts make it to the ground. But it’s really rare to see something the size of this Chinese rocket come down.

Strain: A lot of experts have also raised concerns about this event—saying that, in general, this isn’t supposed to happen in space exploration. Why is that?
Schaub
: There’s a growing awareness around the world that you have to be a good citizen when you launch a vehicle, but also when you have a vehicle that’s at the end of its life. If you have energy left in your satellite’s battery, for example, you should drain it. Otherwise, it can cause an explosion, and an explosion means you create a lot of small debris.