Mysterious half tonne metal ring crash lands on Earth as experts sound the alarm over growing ‘space junk’
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A LARGE glowing ring of metal plummeted on a village in Kenya on Monday, in a shocking reminder of Earth's looming space debris problem. Villagers discovered the "red and hot" object, which is suspected to be a rocket separation ring, on 30 December. The object measures 2.5metres in diameter and weighs about 500kg.
![[A huge space ring that weighs half a tonne landed in a remote village]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/huge-space-ring-mystery-huge-961085716.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
The Kenyan Space Agency said "secured the area and retrieved the debris", and that it would analyse the object to see which agency or business it belongs to. “Such objects are usually designed to burn up as they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere or to fall over unoccupied areas, such as the oceans,” the space agency said, describing the incident as “an isolated case.”.
![[The chunk of debris is thought to be from the massive EP-9 equipment pallet that was jettisoned from the ISS for an uncontrolled landing over Earth in early March]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/mysterious-space-object-smashed-two-891193374.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Parts from old rockets and disused satellites are designed to burn up during their re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, or plunge into the oceans. Although that is not always the case, and while rare, space debris can crash land into inhabited areas of Earth.
![[Several smaller pieces have also been found in residents' back gardens throughout the region, according to local media reports]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/nasa-confirms-space-debris-north-912701390-1.png?strip=all&w=960)
In April last year, an object thought to be from the massive EP-9 equipment pallet that was jettisoned from the ISS crashed two floors into a Florida man's home. Homeowner Alejandro Otero claimed the cylindrical object nearly hit his son, and later sued Nasa for more than $80,000 in compensation.
Then in June, Nasa admitted that a separate hunk of space debris that fell on a walking trail in North Carolina belonged to a SpaceX capsule. While there have been no civilian fatalities from falling space debris, experts have suggested this could soon change with the growing number of commercial space launches.
