DoomsdaysCWAnalyst on #China’s spent rocket stages: “Things only continue to get worse”
Spent upper stages are the most dangerous kind of #SpaceDebris.
Eric Berger – May 26, 2026
"Further growth is anticipated from both the company’s state-owned enterprises as well as a rapidly expanding number of private launch companies. There is nothing wrong with this, as China’s rapid growth in launch has been mirrored by the United States and, in particular, SpaceX.
"However there is an issue with these launches, as China appears to be ignoring long-established norms about disposing of the upper stages of rockets. These are the parts of the vehicle that separate from the first stage of a rocket and push a satellite or spacecraft into orbit."
[...]
" 'China… continues to abandon many rocket bodies in high low-Earth orbit,' Shell wrote on LinkedIn early Monday. 'The total mass of orbital debris is a key variable influencing the long-term sustainment of space. There is broad agreement that abandoning rocket body upper stages in long-lived orbits is not a best practice. In fact, all the major space-faring nations have acknowledged this.' ”
#SpaceJunk #KesslerSyndrome #KesslerEffect #Megaconstellations #DarkSkies #SpacePollution #SpaceX #LowEarthOrbit
