Breaking News: Chinese Rocket Body Breaks Up In Orbit After Successful Satellite Launch

Chinese Rocket satellite

A Chinese Long March 4C rocket body broke apart in orbit on Tuesday, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The agency reported that the debris was expected to burn up in the atmosphere before reaching Earth’s surface. The Long March 4C carried two satellites into orbit, one of which was set to be China’s first astronomical space probe. The other satellite was a communications satellite that would help China create its own navigation system, which will be needed to make sure autonomous cars can work without relying on other countries’ technology or GPS systems, Xinhua said.

What Happened?

On Tuesday, September 15, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched a Long March-2F rocket carrying an experimental satellite into orbit. Shortly after launch, the rocket's second stage broke up in orbit and scattered debris over an area of 1,000 square miles (2,600 sq km). The satellite is still intact and is being monitored by CNSA. This is the first time that such a failure has occurred since China began launching space vehicles in 1996. 

There have been no reports of injury or damage to property from the incident so far. CNSA says they will release more information when they've determined what caused the break up.

How Did It Happen?

The rocket body, which is used to carry satellites into orbit, was launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang satellite launch centre in Sichuan province on Wednesday morning.

The vehicle's payload fairing - the protective shell that covers the satellite during its ascent through Earth's atmosphere and separates as it reaches space - malfunctioned and failed to separate. This caused air resistance against the upper part of the rocket body which led to higher temperatures and increased stress on the structure. Eventually this led to a failure of one of the vehicles control systems and it lost attitude control, causing it to break up in orbit.

What Does This Mean?

The rocket body is a component of the launch vehicle that does not contain any fuel and is discarded along with other components such as the payload fairing and solid-fueled rocket boosters. The reentry vehicle, which houses the satellite, was successfully launched at 10:38 am Beijing time on Friday, October 14th by a Long March-4B rocket from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province. The satellite will be used for remote sensing of land resources, disaster monitoring and other tasks.

China has had four successful launches this year and its space program plans to launch an average of 30 rockets annually in the future.

What Are The Implications?

The implications of this are not clear, but the most likely explanation is that some component has failed. However, it is also possible that the object was never meant to be in orbit for a long time.

Regardless of what happened, China's first space station will not be deployed until 2020. China launched its Tiangong-1 space station in 2011 and announced plans to launch another space station by 2020. It will take years before we know more about this event.

Chinese satellite breaks down