Chinese megaconstellation launch creates field of space debris | Space

HELSINKI — A Chinese launch to deploy a first batch of communications satellites has created more than 50 pieces of debris which could threaten spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

The Long March 6A launched Aug. 6, from a specifically constructed launch pad at Taiyuan spaceport. The rocket’s upper stage, modified for restarts and deploying numerous satellites, deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”), or G60, satellites into roughly 800-kilometer-altitude polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). 

The satellites are the first of a planned megaconstellation of more than 14,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites. However the mission appears to have created a string of debris along its orbital path, according to observations from Slingshot Aerospace, a space-tracking and data analytics firm.

“Composite images from Slingshot’s LEO-focused Horus optical fences show a series of bright, unexpected objects moving along the same orbital path as the rocket body and the G60 satellites it deployed,” Slingshot Aerospace noted in a statement.

The event has more than 50 pieces of debris that now pose a risk to LEO constellations below 800 km altitude, according to the firm.

“These uncued detections have allowed Slingshot to execute additional tasking on these objects to gather more detailed…