The strange, smouldering metal object discovered in the Australian outback was likely a piece of a Chinese rocket that crashed onto the area, the country’s space agency said.
The metal debris with components made of carbon fibre was first spotted on Saturday by mine workers near a remote access road about 30km (19miles) east of Newman, Western Australia.
Australia’s space agency said it could be part of a rocket, adding it would conduct "further technical analysis to identify its origin”.
“The agency is continuing the process of determining the exact nature of the debris and its origin through engagement with global counterparts,” it said.
Space analyst Marco Langbroek said in a blog post on Monday that the strange debris resembled a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV), which holds high-pressure gases and liquids inside rockets.
While these rocket components can often survive reentry, experts say it is rare to find them on land intact and smouldering hot.
"It reportedly was burning when found, which is unusual and against expectations for space debris,” Dr Langbroek wrote.
If the debris is indeed deemed a piece of space junk, it was likely a very recent impact at the time it was found, he says.
Sifting through several possible sources from space, Dr Langbroek said: “Only one was in an orbit that would match passing close to Newman in the early hours of October 18”.
It could be orbital debris and likely the upper stage of a Chinese Jielong 3 – also known as the Smart Dragon 3 rocket – which fell back to Earth on Saturday.
"It could actually be the upper stage itself, given the large size that the photos suggest (and also given that the Jielong 3 upper stage is reportedly a solid fuel stage)," wrote Dr Langbroek, an aerospace engineering faculty at the Dutch Delft University of Technology.
While not much is known about Jielong 3 rocket’s components, the aerospace engineer said the Chinese object is a good contender for being the source of the outback debris.
“So it looks like the Jielong 3 upper stage is a good candidate for the origin of the possible space debris object found near Newman on October 18,” he wrote.
Alternatively, instead of a COPV from the upper stage, it could actually be the upper stage itself, given the large size that the photos suggest,” Dr Langbroek said. The small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of carrying payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit in February, 2024. The Jielong-3, or Smart Dragon-3, blasted off from a floating barge off the coast of Yangjiang in southern Guangdong province, the second launch of the rocket in just two months.
