Space debris weighing over 1,000 pounds has reportedly crashed into a village in Kenya
Kenyan officials said Wednesday they were investigating metal fragments believed to be from a rocket that crashed into a village in the country’s south.
The issue of space junk has grown in tandem with increased space traffic.
the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) announced. the object, a metal ring approximately 8 feet in diameter and weighing about 1,100 pounds, crashed into the village of Mukuku, in Makueni District, on December 30 at around 3:00 pm local time (12:00 GMT).
The KSA, working together with other agencies and local authorities, “secured the area and recovered the debris, which is now under the Agency’s custody for further investigation.”
It said that “preliminary assessments indicate that the fallen object is a separation ring from a launch vehicle,” which is designed to either burn up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere or crash into uninhabited areas.
“This is an isolated case, which the agency will investigate and deal with,” said the KSA statement.
It said the object was not a threat to public safety and praised nearby villagers who quickly notified authorities.
KSA said they are working to determine the origin of the work.
Past examples of human-made space debris hitting Earth include part of the SpaceX Dragon capsule that landed on Australian sheep farm in 2022
And earlier this year, NASA faced a lawsuit from an American family whose home in Florida was hit by a piece of falling metal. A cylindrical object broke through the home Alejandra Otera in Naples on March 8. He told CBS Fort Meyers, Fla., affiliate WINK-TV that his son called him about the collapsed structure while he was on vacation.
“I was shaking. I was in complete disbelief. What are the chances that something would land on my house with that much force to cause that much damage,” Otero said. “I’m super thankful no one was hurt.”
China has also been criticized by NASA for allowing its giant Long March rockets to fall back to Earth after orbit.
Last February, the European Space Agency said the satellite — as heavy as an adult male rhinoceros — had made it uncontrolled return to Earthre-entering the atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Hawaii.
