Kenyan authorities have launched an investigation after the discovery of a metal object that could come from a rocket that fell in a village in the south of the country, they announced on Wednesday.
The object, a metal ring approximately 2.5 m in diameter and weighing approximately 500 kg, fell on December 30 at around 3 p.m. local time in the village of Mukuku, in Makueni County, the Kenya Space Agency said ( KSA).
The KSA, assisted by other agencies and local authorities, “secured the area and recovered the debris, which is now being retained by the Agency for further investigation,” she added.
“First elements indicate that the object which fell is a separation ring of a launcher (rocket)”, designed either to burn during its return to the earth’s atmosphere or to fall on uninhabited areas, continued the KSA in a press release.
The incident “is an isolated case that the Agency will investigate,” she said. She is also seeking to identify the owner of the object, who does not present a threat to public safety, she assured.
Discoveries of man-made space debris have occurred before, such as in 2022 when part of a SpaceX Dragon capsule landed on a farm in Australia.
Last year, an American family whose house in Florida was hit by a falling piece of metal sued NASA.
Swiss
