A Minnesota Farmer Found an 11-Foot Metal Object in His Cornfield. It Came From Space

It’s raining rocket debris. Suspected fragments from Chinese rockets have turned up in places as far apart as Minnesota and Indonesia, raising concerns about the dangers posed by falling space junk.

A farmer in rural Minnesota was working on his cornfield when he discovered a circular metal object approximately 11 feet wide (3 meters wide), according to the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office. The object likely came from a Chinese rocket that launched more than a month earlier and reentered through the atmosphere over Kansas toward Minnesota.

Thousands of miles from Minnesota, a suspected fragment of another Chinese rocket turned up in Indonesia. Local authorities are investigating a car-sized piece of debris that was found in a palm oil plantation near homes and work sites.

China has been known to be careless when it comes to its rocket bits falling from the skies, with numerous incidents reported over the last few years. The two recent cases highlight a growing need to address the safety risks posed by falling rocket debris and hold spacefaring nations accountable for where their discarded hardware comes down.

What goes up must come down

The object found in Minnesota had likely been lying undiscovered on the field for six weeks. It matches the upper stage of a Zhuque-2E rocket, a medium-lift vehicle built by a Chinese company called LandSpace.

The rocket launched on September 15 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China. It delivered 10 networking satellites into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit before free-falling toward Earth in an uncontrolled reentry. The rocket’s upper stage reentered over the upper Midwest, with reports of fiery debris raining down across the region, according to Ars Technica.

When a rocket stage falls back toward Earth, it encounters the atmosphere at very high speeds. That can cause many of its parts to break apart and vaporize, but larger or more heat-resistant pieces do survive the fiery descent.

Law enforcement officials in Minnesota said the piece of debris poses no danger to the public. Had it fallen in a more populated area, however, it would’ve been a different story.

Two for two

In Indonesia, the debris was found on Monday by a plantation worker after residents reported hearing a loud bang the night before over a remote area of Central Kalimantan province. The metallic object is a large aluminum plate that measures about 30 feet wide (9 meters wide).

Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency said the debris appeared to come from a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket, according to local media reports. The rocket launched on October 14 to deliver 10 networking satellites to orbit, and it later reentered the atmosphere over Borneo.

This isn’t the first time Chinese rocket bits have rained on this particular region. In August 2022, debris from China’s Long March 5B crashed onto parts of Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Sarawak, Malaysia. In May 2020, another incoming Long March 5B rocket caused pieces of debris to fall onto two villages in Cote d’Ivoire, resulting in damage to homes.

Although international law can make China liable for damage caused by its rocket debris, there is no publicly documented case in which China has been formally compelled to pay compensation for previous incidents. As China continues to expand its spacefaring endeavors, the risks associated with falling rocket debris and uncontrolled reentries are likely to become an increasingly important concern.