On Tuesday morning (Aug. 6), a Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched the first 18 satellites for the Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) broadband network, which will eventually host up to 14,000 spacecraft. The rocket successfully delivered the satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), at an altitude of about 500 miles (800 kilometers) but then its upper stage broke apart.
USSPACECOM can confirm the breakup of a Long March 6A rocket launched on Aug. 6, 2024, resulting in over 300 pieces of trackable debris in low Earth orbit,” the organization said in a statement today (Aug. 8). “USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and continues to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain.”
Trackable debris is generally any object that’s at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter.
#USSPACECOM statement on the break-up of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket: pic.twitter.com/Kf5cz0iZky
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) August 8, 2024
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That is actually pretty high. It will take a very long march to come down.