---
title: "Wild Video Shows Chinese Space Junk Light Up the Night Sky"
description: "Just days after reports of an alleged SpaceX rocket debris crash, another piece of space junk — this time from China — crashed into the Indian Ocean."
date: "2022-08-01"
modified: "2022-08-01"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-rocket-space-junk-crash-video"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "NASA"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Wild Video Shows Chinese Space Junk Light Up the Night Sky

![Just days after reports of an alleged SpaceX rocket debris crash, another piece of space junk — this time from China — crashed into the Indian Ocean.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/chinese-rocket-space-junk-crash-video.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Hanif Daslepzz\</em\>*

## Junked Up

Just days after reports surfaced of an alleged SpaceX artifact [crashed into an Australian sheep farm](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-debris-smashes-farm>), another piece of space junk — this time from China — careened through the Earth's atmosphere to land in the Indian Ocean.

Over the weekend, the [Chinese Manned Space Agency confirmed](<https://share.api.weibo.cn/share/324648299,4797108085066235.html>) that parts of the country's gigantic Long March 5B carrier rocket, which was launched less than a week prior, survived their scorching trip through the atmosphere.

Bystander videos of the event captured in Malaysia depict a stunning light show as the pieces of the debris burned up during their uncontrolled descent.

https://twitter.com/sidhant/status/1553448859330027521

## Watch the Sky

Though this crash was astonishing to witness, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Before the rocket was even launched, space watchers [had already begun speculating](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-space-junk-hurtling-earth>) — and [eventually confirmed](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-rocket-plummeting-down-earth>) — that parts of it would end up making their uncontrolled way back down to Earth, as junk from other Long March rockets [had done in the past](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-administrator-statement-on-chinese-rocket-debris>).

Space leaders were furious at China's carelessness.

In [a statement](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-administrator-statement-on-chinese-space-debris>), NASA Administrator Bill Nelson chided the People's Republic for not sharing "specific trajectory information as their Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth."

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk," Nelson said in the statement, adding that information-sharing is "especially" necessary for large rockets like the Long March 5B, "which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property."

## Apples & Oranges

The news comes shortly after [Australian sheep farmers discovered](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-debris-smashes-farm>) what experts suspected to be pieces of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Though these two space junk crashes happened within weeks of each other, it's still relatively rare for larger pieces of rocket debris to survive their fall back down to Earth largely intact.

But when they do survive the trip, it usually ends up being quite a sight to behold.

**READ MORE:** [Debris From Uncontrolled Chinese Rocket Falls Over Southeast Asian Seas](<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/30/science/china-rocket-debris-fall.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)