Hundreds of stargazers reported fireballs over the southeastern U.S. earlier this week. But this was no pure phenomenon—simply one other case of useless satellites littering Earth’s orbit.
The fireworks got here from defunct Chinese satellite tv for pc that reentered by means of Earth’s environment on Saturday evening and burned up over New Orleans, Louisiana. The satellite tv for pc’s reentry resulted in brilliant streaks throughout the skies over a number of states, together with Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi, in response to reviews shared on-line. Although the satellite tv for pc didn’t pose a menace to onlookers, its uncontrolled reentry highlights the necessity for higher regulation of nonoperational house junk.
🚨Update: Chinese surveillance satellite tv for pc enters Earth’s environment over New Orleans, Louisiana!pic.twitter.com/UGyp8Tx5dz
— US Civil Defense News (@CaptCoronado) December 22, 2024
The American Meteor Society obtained 152 witness reviews of fireball sightings round 11 p.m. ET on December 22, however dismissed the occasion as “not a real fireball.” Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell later recognized the supply of the fireball because the Chinese imaging satellite tv for pc SuperView 1-02, which reentered over New Orleans earlier than heading north, he wrote on X.
Orbit peak historical past of GJ1-02, the Chinese sat that reentered over the US final evening pic.twitter.com/RrjEncYdvF
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) December 22, 2024
SuperView 1-02 was operated by Bejing-based firm SpaceView, and launched in December 2016 as certainly one of two satellites belonging to a constellation for civilian distant sensing. The two satellites had been China’s first high-resolution Earth imaging satellites, in response to Space.com. They had been initially positioned within the mistaken orbit, ending up in an elliptical orbit as an alternative of a round one, and needed to progressively elevate their orbit over time to start their mission.
SuperView 1-02 was decommissioned round two years in the past, and left to reentry by means of Earth’s environment in an uncontrolled method. Some satellite tv for pc operators equip spacecraft with the potential of performing a managed reentry with a purpose to reduce threat, however China is thought for dangerous orbital etiquette. The South China Morning Post downplayed the incident, reporting that the satellite tv for pc’s reentry “created a spectacular gentle present however posed no actual hazard,” and including that the “occasion was unintentional.”
Defunct satellites wandering round Earth orbit are at critical threat of collision with different spacecraft. There are greater than 27,000 items of orbital particles at the moment being tracked by the Department of Defense’s international Space Surveillance Network, with numerous smaller items additionally floating round undetected. Moving round at excessive speeds, even the smaller bits of fabric, like micrometeoroids, can jeopardize lively spacecraft in orbit.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is creating methods to enhance spacecraft reentry capabilities to assist cut back orbital particles. The Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object (DRACO), launching in 2027, is a satellite tv for pc designed to assemble information throughout its reentry by means of Earth’s environment after a short-lived mission. Better understanding the science of reentry may assist scientists design future spacecraft that don’t threat damaging different machines in house when they’re decommissioned.
