The fire service in the Australian state of Queensland is warning about "potentially dangerous objects" that have been discovered on the beach at Forrest Beach, north of Brisbane. The mysterious spheres appear to be so‑called "Space Balls" that have plunged to Earth from space.
A safety zone has been established around the objects found so far. Parts of the beach have been closed.
"If you come across suspicious items in this area, do not touch them. Move away from the location and immediately call the Triple Zero (000) emergency number," the Queensland Fire Department (source in German) wrote on social media.
Queensland's fire service has also released several photos of the Space Balls.
After initial examinations, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) has concluded: "The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle. The agency has identified their likely origin. The location and characteristics of the objects are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere from orbit."
These pressure vessels may contain toxic substances.
To determine which rocket left parts behind at Forrest Beach, ASA is in contact with international colleagues.
Growing amounts of space junk
Only recently a study by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) warned of the increasing number of fragments in space, as more than 1.7 million satellites are scheduled to be launched into Earth's orbit from 2027.
This vast number of satellites also interferes with our view of the night sky. Even now, you are far more likely to spot a satellite than a shooting star.
Space debris is created when objects returning to Earth's atmosphere – such as satellites or launch vehicles – do not completely burn up as they pass through it.
Australia's space agency ASA lists among the best-known examples of space debris the fragments of the Skylab space station, which came down in Western Australia in 1979, part of a SpaceX Dragon rocket found in New South Wales in 2022, as well as a launch vehicle pressure vessel that was washed up on an Australian beach in 2023.
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