Jielong 3. Another rocket may be deorbited over Poland

As Karol Wójcicki, author of the blog “With the head in the stars”, data from the European space monitoring system EU SST (EU Space Surveillance and Tracking), said on Wednesday, ). It is possible that this will happen over our country.

The expert added that the current EU SST forecasts say about a nine -hour deorbit window. This is a period in the trajectory of a spacecraft, in which it is possible to safely enter the atmosphere of the Earth. At this moment it falls between 3.26 a 12.34 on Thursday.

“The most likely moment of deorbitation is expected at 8.00 above the Fire Land in South America,” Wójcicki said.

Wójcicki announced, however, that exactly between 11.35 a 11.36, so still in the deorbit window, the object will fly over our country: on the line Wrocław – Łódź – Warsaw – Białystok.

“It means that there is a possibility that its fragments will burn over our country. A similar situation took place at the last week's entry into the atmosphere of the second degree Falcon 9, whose remains were found in Poland,” he said.

Read more: The remains of Falcon 9 rocket in Poland. There is a spacex message

The author of the blog announced that there are several significant differences between the Chinese object and the already mentioned Falcon 9. The first thing is the duration of this window. At Falcon 9 it had about eight hours, and its entry into the atmosphere over Poland took place shortly after the expected climax. Meanwhile, Jielong 3 will fly over Poland “” In the final stage of the deorbitation window, two laps of the Earth by the climax. ”

Wójcicki mentioned that this information is constantly updated, so it is very possible that after subsequent changes it turns out that Poland will not be completely taken into account as a potential region of deorbitation.

Jielong 3 is a 31-meter support rocket for solid fuel, which was designed to carry small charges to orbit. She weighs 145 tons. “The rocket is able to deliver up to 1.6 tons of load to the synchronous orbit with the sun (SSO), which makes it one of the more compact and mobile satellite systems, especially used to start from sea platforms. We do not have data (size, mass) The upper degree of this rocket for comparison. tons ” – wrote Wójcicki.

Despite the smaller dimensions, the Chinese rocket can still reach the earth's surface, depending on the weather conditions, the angle of attack and many random factors. The expert also added that the vast majority of facilities of such a size are completely burned in the atmosphere, so the probability that some parts of it will reach earth is not high.

“The exact place of entering the atmosphere can still change, and specialists from EU SST monitor the situation on an ongoing basis. From the moment of last week's Deorbitation Falcona 9 there have already been to several similar events that naturally did not affect such echoes” – said Wójcicki.