.jpg?20250614')
A brilliant fireball lit up the night sky over some southern states in the US last weekend.
While some thought they were initially witnessing a meteor shower, scientists revealed that a Chinese satellite had broken apart in the sky.
Superview-1 02, a satellite of Chinese origin launched in 2016 for imaging purposes, has been inactive and classified as space junk since January 2023.
Space debris falling back into the earth is a regular occurrence, with 200-400 falling annually according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Most of these objects burn up completely before touching the ground, and a few that survive usually land in the ocean.
&uuid=(email))