Space debris found on fire near WA mining town suspected to be from Chinese rocket | Western Australia

Burning space debris that crashed to Earth in the Australian outback is likely part of a Chinese rocket launched in September, according to leading space archaeologist Alice Gorman.

Authorities are investigating a pile of metal and carbon fiber after miners spotted it near Newman, Western Australia, on Saturday afternoon.

“This looks like the fourth stage of a Jieling rocket,” said Gorman, Flinders University associate professor and author of Dr Space Junk vs the Universe.

“There was one that launched in late September. If it’s the one on the 25th, that means it’s been orbiting the earth for a while and then suddenly appeared.”

“There was no indication at this time that it was going to re-enter, so people weren’t expecting it; when I went looking for re-entry predictions I couldn’t find anything, which is an indication that it was sudden.”

WA Police is leading the investigation.

“Initial assessments indicate that the item is made of carbon fiber and may be a composite supercoiled pressure vessel or rocket tank, consistent with aerospace components,” a police spokesman said.

“The object is still being investigated, but its characteristics are consistent with known space re-entry debris… Further technical assessment will be carried out by Australian Space Agency engineers to help determine its nature and source.”

Police said mine site staff found the burning object near the remote access road and called emergency services around 2pm.

Police, the Australian Space Agency, the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services and mine operators are involved in the investigation.

European Space Agency (ESA) director general Dr. Josef Aschbacher was recently in Australia for the International Astronautical Conference. He told Guardian Australia that as an increasing number of rockets are launched, space debris is becoming a bigger problem, both in orbit and in terms of deorbiting and hitting land.

ESA created a zero debris charter.

“The signatories of this contract promise or commit to deorbiting the spacecraft at the end of its life,” he said. “This requires some technical changes or modifications.

“First, you need to have enough fuel to exit orbit… second, the spacecraft needs to be designed so that it breaks into small enough pieces that will then burn up in the atmosphere and not reach the surface.”

Everyone who launches a rocket should have an “end-of-life plan,” Gorman said.

“They may be controlled [re-entries] …they are being directed to Point Nemo, which is a spacecraft graveyard,” he said, which may cause environmental concerns but protects property and people.

Uncontrolled intakes must be designed to burn, he said, but fuel tanks are often made of stainless steel or titanium alloys, as well as carbon fiber coatings that give them a really high melting point.

He said it is now common for debris to land on the ground, but not so common to be found still burning, usually falling away from people’s sight.

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Transportation safety officials said the object did not belong to a commercial airliner and was more likely to reenter space debris.