Nagpur/Chandrapur: A huge metal ring, six cylindrical objects and a metallic sphere that were found in different parts of Chandrapur, Wardha and Gadchiroli districts of Vidarbha in the month of April last year, were parts of Long March 3V Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV ) of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a report in a local English daily said.
According to the report and Suresh Chopne, Member, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and President, SkyWatch Group, “At first sight, we thought it was the space debris of Starlink 1831 of China. But, NASA recently confirmed that it was the debris of China’s Long March SLV which had landed in India.”
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Chopne said that last year, there were three Chinese SLVs which landed on the earth and the Long March landed in Vidarbha. It was supposed to land on Bay of Bengal but unfortunately it crash landed on some parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha. Normally the landing of space debris takes place in an ocean. Last year’s incident was a first of its kind, which raised the possibility of threat to human and property loss, said Chopne.
The objects were parts of the SLV that fell down in the earth atmosphere after launching the third stage of the rocket. Generally, the remains fall down on the earth atmosphere and vaporise in high temperature due to friction with air molecules. After the incident, a two-member-team of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) visited the spot where the debris landed in Vidarbha last year. They refrained from making any comments on the incident then. It was confirmed recently that it was a Chinese SLV debris and its landing on our land raised a great concern at the international level, explained Chopne.
The MoEF&CC member also informed that countries in the world are working to frame an international law to compensate people who face any kind of loss due to such debris. USA, China and Russia are the top three countries who are responsible for generating the highest amount of space debris. India is in the 5-6 position, which is also a matter of great concern for all, said Chopne.
