The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and WA Police are investigating, but Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman said she believed the debris was from the fourth stage of a Chinese rocket called Jielong.<\/p>\n
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Suspected space debris was discovered at a mine site about 30 kilometres east of Newman. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n
“The last launch was late September, so this has been barrelling around the earth and quite suddenly has got pulled back to the atmosphere,” Dr Gorman told ABC Radio Perth.<\/p>\n
She said during the course of a spacecraft’s orbit, it would discard several rockets and tanks which fell back to Earth in an effort to shed weight.<\/p>\n
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The burning object was found on Saturday afternoon. (Supplied: WA Police\u00a0)<\/p>\n
Dr Gorman said the planet was littered with empty rocket fuel tanks that could withstand high temperatures and did not burn up when re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
“They’re so common they’re called space balls,” she said.<\/p>\n
“People often find them years later. So this one’s a bit unusual because it was found pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n
Origin ‘not really relevant’<\/p>\n
The Australian Space Agency (ASA) said the debris was “likely” a propellant tank or pressure vessel from a space launch vehicle.<\/p>\n
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It said it was working with global counterparts to identify the debris’ exact nature and origin.<\/p>\n
WA Police Superintendent Les Andrews said it could take weeks or months to investigate, and the debris would stay at the Pilbara mine site in the meantime.<\/p>\n
“Once the Australian Space Agency have completed their investigations and hopefully identified an owner, through international protocol it will be arranged to be returned back to the owner,” he said.<\/p>\n
Superintendent Andrews said there was no specific nation involved at this stage, despite the speculation the debris could be linked to a Chinese rocket.<\/p>\n
“There are thousands and thousands of satellites up in the sky in orbit \u2026 it’s certainly not something that we’re looking at in regards to country of origin, because there’s so many of them [satellites]. It’s not really relevant,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A piece of space junk that washed up in Green Head two years ago is now on display in Perth. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)<\/p>\n
Two years ago, the discovery of space debris in Green Head, about 250 kilometres north of Perth, made international headlines.<\/p>\n
The object, which the ASA said was part of an Indian rocket, was exhibited at science discovery centre Scitech in West Perth.<\/p>\n
Is space debris dangerous?<\/p>\n
Most debris is purposely dumped at a spacecraft graveyard known as Point Nemo \u2014 a remote stretch of the south-west Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n
Dr Gorman said it was likely the recent rocket discovery was what was known as an “uncontrolled re-entry”.<\/p>\n
“So nobody knew when it was coming back. They didn’t know where it would come back.”<\/p>\n
WA Police say the object has been secured and there is no threat to public safety. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n
While uncontrolled re-entries do pose a risk, the chances of space debris hitting people and property is low.<\/p>\n
“There were two cases in America in the 70s,” Perth Observatory tour administrator Matt Woods said.<\/p>\n
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Matt Woods says space junk has hit populated areas before.\u00a0 (ABC News: Keana Naughton)<\/p>\n
“Someone was sleeping and the meteorite actually went through the roof and hit her on the thigh. So she had a massive big bruise.<\/p>\n
“And then something hit the back fender of a car as well.”<\/p>\n
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Another view of the space junk that crashed in WA’s north. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n