According to Indian officials, debris that fell in the western part of the country last weekend may be parts of a rocket launched into space by China in 2021.
Residents in rural western India reported that large metal fragments fell from the sky over the weekend, as reported by AFP on April 4.
Among the debris, a circular metal piece with a diameter of 2-3 meters and weighing over 40 kg was discovered in a village field in Maharashtra on the evening of April 2, local government head Ajay Gulhane told the Press Trust of India.
“We were preparing for a festival when the sky lit up with a red disc falling into an empty plot in the village,” a woman, who wished to remain anonymous, from Chandrapur district in Maharashtra told the Times of India.
“People ran home for fear of an explosion and stayed inside for nearly half an hour,” she added.
Another object, a large metal sphere approximately 0.5 meters in diameter, fell in another village in the district, Gulhane reported. “We collected this object for investigation. We also sent staff to each village to check for any other scattered debris.”
No casualties or damages have been reported following the incident.
An official from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) stated that the timing of the debris falling “coincides” with the expected timeframe for debris from the Chinese rocket to return to Earth after its launch in February 2021.
The debris fallen in India resembles a piece of the Long March 3B rocket launched by China in February 2021. (Photo: Reuters).
Space observer Jonathan McDowell from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics also noted that the circular debris resembles a part of China’s Long March 3B rocket.
When an object re-enters the atmosphere, friction can generate significant heat, causing it to burn up and disintegrate upon returning to Earth, although some larger objects may not be completely destroyed.
Fragments of such objects can fall to the planet’s surface, potentially causing damage and casualties, although the risk is relatively low.
In 2020, debris from another Long March rocket from China fell on villages in Côte d’Ivoire, causing damage to some buildings but no injuries were reported.
