Kenyan authorities have launched an investigation after the discovery of a metal object, possibly from a rocket, that fell in a village in the south of the country, they announced on Wednesday 1is January.
The object, a metal ring about 2.5 meters in diameter and weighing some 500 kilograms, fell on December 30 at around 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Mukuku village in Makueni County, the government said. Kenya Space Agency (KSA). The latter, helped by other agencies and local authorities, “secured the area and found the debris, which is now being kept by the agency for further investigations”she added.
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“First elements indicate that the object which fell is a separation ring from a launcher [de fusée] »designed either to burn upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere or to fall on uninhabited areas, the KSA continued in a statement.
L’incident “is an isolated case that the agency will investigate”she clarified. 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. In 2024, an American family, whose house in Florida was hit by a falling piece of metal, sued NASA.
