A suspected piece of space junk that crashed near an iron ore mine in the Australian desert has been linked to a Chinese rocket launch.
The debris was found by mine workers on Saturday near Newman, in a remote part of the state’s Pilbara region, sparking investigations by police and transport authorities.
As investigations continue, Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman has floated her own theory, claiming it came from a Chinese rocket called Jielong.
‘The last launch was late September, so this has been barrelling around the earth and quite suddenly has got pulled back to the atmosphere,’ Ms Gorman told ABC Radio Perth.
She believes it is one of several rocket tanks discarded from the spacecraft during its orbit to shed weight during its flight.
Dr Gorman said the planet was ‘littered’ with empty rocket fuel tanks which are heat-resistant and can survive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
‘They’re so common they’re called space balls,’ she said.
‘People often find them years later. So this one’s a bit unusual because it was found pretty quickly.’
Pictured is the ‘space junk’ found by mine workers in WA’s Pilbara region on Saturday
Authorities are investigating the bizarre discovery
Ms Gorman said the item was likely the result of what is called an ‘uncontrolled re-entry,’ meaning it was unknown where or when it would return to Earth.
The associate professor added that the risks posed by space debris are increasing because of increasingly congested space traffic.
‘Qantas has had some concerns that it hasn’t been getting sufficient notice of rocket launches and re-entries,’ she said.
‘This is the world we’re starting to live in, where we’re having to look to the skies and be conscious of what’s above us.’
Mine workers found the burning object at about 2pm on Saturday near a BHP mine access road, prompting multi-agency investigations led by WA Police.
Police have ruled out the possibility of the item originating from a commercial aircraft and said the item could be a ‘rocket tank’ or pressure vessel.
Police confirmed there is no current threat to public safety.
