Space Debris Streaks Across US Skies: Was It a Falling Chinese Satellite?

A few days ago, residents of Kansas, New Orleans and others in the southeastern US reported sightings of space debris breaking up in the sky as they flew over the region’s airspace. Various eyewitnesses of the flight of this space debris have taken to the internet to share videos, hence sparking speculations on what the falling object might be.

Remains Of A Chinese Satellite

On 21 December 2024, residents of Kansas and New Orleans started flooding the internet with reports of space debris breaking up in the sky and creating a spectacular view. While this sight was a joy for some, others had questions as to what was falling from the sky and crossing the sky above the southeastern region of the US.

Following the influx of videos on the internet showing the falling space debris, Douglas Macgregor, a military TV analyst alongside other experts, took to their pages to give clarifications on the falling object. From Douglas Macgregor’s X post, we learn that the falling space debris is a Chinese imaging satellite.

Astronomer Jonathan MacDowell also said that “the satellite has been space junk and dead as a doornail since January 2023. This was an uncontrolled reentry.” He adds that concerned governmental bodies had prior knowledge of this satellite’s reentry into Earth however, there was no idea where it would pass through.

According to McDowell, “the commercial imaging satellite 高景一号02星 (GaoJing 1-02, Superview 1-02)” is operated by the Beijing-based firm, Space View. This clarification brings more understanding to the spectacular event witnessed by many in Kansas, New Orleans, and other regions in the southeastern part of the US.

Last month, a similar reentry of a satellite was witnessed by residents of North Texas. In this event, the object was identified by astronomers to be a SpaceX Starlink satellite launched into space back in 2022.

Beijing Space View Technology Satellites

Space View, the manufacturer of the satellite that re-entered Earth and passed over the southeastern part of the US, is a Beijing-based firm. They are a “leading provider of EO satellite data and geospatial information services” for China.

Aside from providing satellite imaging services, the firm also deals in the “construction of direct-receiving and virtual stations” worldwide. The commercial imaging satellite 高景一号02星 (GaoJing 1-02, Superview 1-02) which re-entered Earth a few days ago is one of the satellites Space View has in its constellation.

SuperView is Space View’s constellation for high-resolution imagery and is used in the military and geography. Another constellation Space View owns is the Smart Satellite constellation, and this handles millimetre-level deformation monitoring.

Smart Satellite 2A is the newest addition to the Smart Satellite constellation, as it was launched this year. The last satellite in Space View’s arsenal is the Beijing-3 which has a 500km sun-synchronous orbit.