In this case, the Long March 5 rocket was launched by China from a Chinese launch site, so the authorisation to launch – and any risk of reentry becoming uncontrolled - would fall under Chinese space law. What we have is a very concerning situation that appears either to be a technical failure, to be irresponsible by design, but not unlawful. There’s no breach or violation of any international space law here. What international rules govern countries that launch rockets? Since death and destruction are generally frowned upon around the world, we asked ANU InSpace Mission Specialist Dr Cassandra Steer FHEA, a Senior Lecturer at the ANU College of Law and a space lawyer with extensive international experience, her thoughts about this potentially dangerous reentry. “Given humanity’s increased activity in space, these reentry events will become more frequent and statistically, there will be an increasing amount of space objects that will unfortunately survive reentry and possible kill people as a consequence.” He is an astrodynamicist, space environmentalist and associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and the Mrs Pearlie Dashiell Henderson Centennial Fellow in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Did their feelings match up to the stories we are reading online?įormer ANU InSpace Mission Specialist, Associate Professor Moriba Jah, has been highlighting the need for better space debris monitoring for years. We asked three space experts their thoughts on this situation. How much of it will burn up during reentry? If debris falls to Earth, where and when will that happen? What happens after that is a series of unknowns. While it is in orbit now, it will slow down and fall back to Earth. It’s big, and it is no longer powered, so it is at the mercy of our atmosphere. What we do know is the rocket’s core is about 30 metres high and weighs more than 20 metric tonnes. Scientists and researchers around the world have been watching this for days, and now that more media outlets are reporting it, the headlines and stories sound like the plot of a movie with phrases like “plunge back to Earth”, “out-of-control”, “experts fear it could land on an inhabited area” and “crash site unknown.” You may have seen the headlines that a Chinese rocket used to put a new space station into orbit is set to reenter Earth’s atmosphere in early May, and people are worried the debris from its reentry will land in a populated area.
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