A large piece of suspected space debris has been discovered in a remote part of the Australian desert, the country's space agency confirmed on Monday.
The charred and smoldering object was found in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, according to the Australian Space Agency. It is unclear what the object is or where it came from, but officials said it is likely a spent rocket part.
“The debris is likely to be a fuel tank or pressure vessel from a space launch vehicle,” the Australian Space Agency said. wrote in a post on X.
The agency did not provide details about the object's size or weight, but wrote that it was working with local authorities and other space agencies to investigate and determine “the exact nature of the debris and its origin.”
The agency did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for more information.
The object was discovered Saturday on a remote access road by workers at a nearby mine. According to Sky Newswhich said local authorities did not believe the debris posed any threat to public safety. NBC News has not independently confirmed these details. (Sky News is a division of Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)
Government space agencies and private space companies often allow spent or failed parts of rockets and satellites to burn up in the atmosphere to destroy them. However, sometimes fragments can survive the fiery process of re-entering the atmosphere. However, it is relatively rare for space debris to fall onto land, given that the planet is mostly covered by oceans, and it is even rarer for space debris to land in densely populated areas.
However, in recent years, experts have expressed concern about the growing problem of space debris, especially with the increasing frequency of launches into orbit.
A 90-pound slab of space debris was discovered last summer. discovered on a mountain trail in North Carolina. It was later identified as part of the service module of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which carried four astronauts to Earth from the International Space Station earlier that year.
In March 2024 A 1.6 pound piece of metal pierced a house. in Naples, Florida. Subsequent investigation revealed that the metal debris came from a cargo pallet that was deliberately dropped from the International Space Station to burn up in the atmosphere.
Tens of thousands of pieces of space junk—and millions more smaller pieces of orbital debris—clutter low-Earth orbit, a narrow strip of space where scores of telecommunications and GPS satellites orbit the planet. These objects travel in orbit at speeds of up to 18,000 miles per hour, threatening functioning spacecraft and posing a safety risk to astronauts on the International Space Station.
For these reasons, experts have long warned against overcrowding in space. NASA and other space agencies have even funded research and technology demonstrations how to remove large amounts of debris in orbit.
The Australian Space Agency said at X that it is “committed to the long-term sustainability of space activities, including the fight against debris, and continues to highlight this on the international stage.”
