Chinese Spacecraft Accused of Dumping Experimental Fuel in Streak Seen Across American Sky

Across the American West, a massive glowing streak appeared in the skies last weekend — and an experimental rocket fuel seems to have been its source. As Live Science reports, the spectacular light show was almost certainly the result of spent fuel from ZhuQue-2E, a rocket from the Chinese startup Landspace that used a methane-based fuel known "methalox" as its upper stage burned. Launched on May 17, the rocket took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, a mega-bright streak was seen over at least seven American states — Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington — and skywatchers online began speculating about what could have caused it. This plume was not an aurora, and it was not STEVE. We believe it is related to a rocket launch in China. About an hour before the plume appeared (5:39 UTC), Chinese launch startup Landspace launched the ZhuQue-2E rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Cen ... Read full article.