As China makes space strides, debris problem gains urgency

The uncontrolled re-entry of a China Long March rocket into Earth’s atmosphere was downplayed by Beijing. But the incident highlights the need to mitigate a larger space debris issue.

It’s been a mixed month for China’s space programme. The spacefaring nation scored a stunning achievement over the weekend when it successfully landed a rover on Mars, becoming the third country after the United States and the Soviet Union to pull off the challenging feat. Less than a week before, though, China’s space programme was grabbing headlines for a far less impressive development. One of its Long March rockets that had transported the first piece of the country’s new space station into orbit had an uncontrolled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Most of it burned up, but bits and pieces of it crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.