Chinese Rocket Stage Passes Over Poland, Re-enters Over Borneo

On Sunday, October 18, at 6:13 AM, a Chinese ZQ-2E rocket stage weighing approximately five tons flew over Polish territory. The object appeared over the southern part of the country and crossed airspace heading north. The event was recorded by ground cameras.

The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) published an official statement on its Facebook profile: "We inform you that the ZQ-2E rocket stage weighing approximately 5,000 kg (NORAD: 101070, COSPAR: 2026-234L), launched on October 14, 2026, from the Jiuquan SLC spaceport, was recorded by the Skytinel fireball network during its passage over Polish territory around 6:13 AM on October 18, 2026."

South-to-North Flight and No Threat

The flight path covered a corridor from Poland's southern borders toward the Baltic Sea. According to reports from the Skytinel fireball network, its cameras tracked the object from the moment it entered airspace near Bielsko-Biała all the way to the coast of Sweden.

The orbital profile proved decisive for the safety of residents. According to experts from the Skytinel network (quoted by RMF24 and Polish Radio), the flight took place on an ascending trajectory, which eliminated the risk of an uncontrolled fall onto Polish territory. Neither the space agency nor the Skytinel network provided the exact altitude of the flight or the estimated speed of the stage in their communications.

Chinese Spaceport and Uncertainty Surrounding Debris

The ZQ-2E rocket launched on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, from China's Jiuquan SLC spaceport in Inner Mongolia. POLSA's SSA Operations Center had been tracking the trajectory since Saturday. According to earlier estimates, the nominal reentry point was set for Sunday at 5:20 AM over the Atlantic Ocean, within a window between 5:03 AM and 3:43 PM.

Five tons of space junk in uncontrolled flight always raises questions about procedures. Prior to the flyby, POLSA admitted that due to a lack of complete data regarding the object's structure, the survival of its fragments upon entering the dense layers of the atmosphere could not be ruled out. State services received real-time reports, and the agency urged the public to rely exclusively on official announcements.

POLSA's final statement

On Monday, October 19, POLSA published a summary: the stage re-entered the atmosphere on Sunday, October 18, at around 12:33 (±10 min) over Borneo, near Brunei – a few hours after passing over Poland.