US general urges China to report space debris as G60 satellite network launches

US Space Command chief says Beijing failed to notify about space junk left behind after rocket launches, but notes ‘positive’ moves

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A rocket carrying satellites for China’s Qianfan Constellation blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre on August 6. Photo: CCTV

Published: 3:22pm, 31 Aug 2024Updated: 2:36pm, 1 Sep 2024

The head of the US Space Command has called on Beijing to step up notification about space debris as China increases rocket launches to build a satellite network rivalling SpaceX’s Starlink.

Speaking at a panel in Colorado this week, General Stephen Whiting identified two occasions when Chinese satellite launches left behind loads of debris in orbit in the past two years.

“I hope next time there’s a rocket like that that leaves a lot of debris, it’s not our sensors that are the first to detect that, but we’re getting communications that help us to understand that, just like we communicate with others,” the Space Command chief said.

China has increased the frequency of its rocket launches as it seeks to expand its network of low-Earth orbit satellites, including building the massive Qianfan Constellation, also known as the G60 Constellation, to rival the Starlink network from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the world’s leading provider of satellite launches.

The launch of the first Qianfan satellites earlier this month created a cloud of “over 300 pieces of trackable debris in low-Earth orbit”, according to the US Space Command.

On August 6, a total of 18 satellites were delivered by a Long March 6A rocket, which took off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in central China. It marked the start of an ambitious 14,000-satellite broadband network to rival Starlink, the top operator of internet services from low-Earth orbit. But the upper stage of the launch vehicle broke apart soon after delivery.