• The mystery of why a Chinese military satellite disintegrate in orbit has been solved. The Yunhai 1-02 collided with space junk leftover from a 1996 Russian rocket launch, according to an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics. | REUTERS
    The mystery of why a Chinese military satellite disintegrate in orbit has been solved. The Yunhai 1-02 collided with space junk leftover from a 1996 Russian rocket launch, according to an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics. | REUTERS
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In March, a Chinese military satellite appeared to spontaneously disintegrate in orbit, leaving a trail of debris high above the Earth.

If China knew anything, it wasn’t saying. Did the propulsion system explode? Was there a collision with some of the space junk that’s accumulating in orbit? Or did something a bit more conspiratorial happen?

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