Rocket piece that fell in Brazil belongs to Musk, who ignored the rescue of the piece

SpaceX, the company of billionaire Elon Musk, was informed about the conclusions of an investigation carried out by the AEB (Agência Espacial Brasileira), which found the company as the owner of a piece of rocket that crashed in Brazil in March.

The company admitted to being responsible for the space junk, according to diplomatic sources heard by the Sheet. And, even so, he did nothing to rescue the piece — which fell 100 meters from the house of a couple who live on a farm in São Mateus do Sul (PR), 150 kilometers from Curitiba.

Residents of the farm found the metallic material on March 16. Almost two months later, the piece is in the same place and has only been covered, says businesswoman Josiane Franco Portes, 56, who was at home at dawn when the material hit the floor.

“It’s a heavy piece, we can’t move it. The company hasn’t made any contact yet,” Portes told the report.

Musk was in Brazil on the 20th to talk about the interests of his companies, especially the satellite internet service of Starlink (another company of his). He was received by the highest authorities in the country, civil and military, including President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who tried to make electoral use of the visit.

The space junk left in Paraná passed by the businessman’s visit to the country.

The company has the obligation to collect the material and compensate public expenses with the investigation carried out, in addition to indemnifying any damage caused by the fall of the piece, according to sources involved in the investigation.

Members of the AEB — an agency of the Brazilian government linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation — say they do not remember a case of this magnitude in the last 15 years.

The agency was responsible for an investigation into the space artifact that fell in Brazilian territory. For this, it sent a team to São Mateus do Sul on March 17.

The report was completed and indicated the origin of the object, according to the AEB. The US Embassy in Brazil was informed of the findings and “contacted the company responsible for the artifact”, according to the agency’s note sent to the report.

In the note, AEB does not claim that the rocket piece is from SpaceX. The information was confirmed by the report with sources from the agency and the American embassy.

SpaceX was contacted by the embassy and has already admitted to being responsible for the artifact, according to the sources heard. There is no deadline for the company to collect space debris.

“Once the initial contacts have been made, we are awaiting the response from the embassy of the country of origin to take the necessary measures”, said the AEB.

Sought, the US Embassy in Brazil stated that a position must be given by the responsible company.

SpaceX did not respond to an email sent by the report. The representative of Starlink’s office opened in Brazil, Vitor Urner, said he had no involvement with the operations, was unaware of the enterprise’s plans for Brazil and was not authorized to speak for the company.

When the piece fell in Brazil, an analysis carried out by members of a Brazilian meteor observation network pointed to the possibility that the material was part of a SpaceX rocket.

São Mateus do Sul, according to this network, is below the rocket’s re-entry into the atmosphere observed in the previous week. And, according to members of the network of observers, there are similarities with the nozzle of a second stage engine of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket carried a geostationary satellite into orbit, according to the observation network analysis.

“The noise was like a wind lifting an entire zinc roof,” said businesswoman Josiane Portes about the fall of the artifact.

The farm where she lives with her husband, João Pacheco Portes, 58, is six kilometers from the city. “The piece fell straight. It’s there, isolated, the way it was told to leave.”

AEB and Cenipa (Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents), from the Air Force, exchanged information on who would be responsible for investigating the episode. The task fell to the space agency.

On the 25th, the Air Force gave wide publicity to the launch of two remote sensing satellites, purchased from a Finnish company. The satellites were launched using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the US.

Defense Minister General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira and FAB commander Lieutenant Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior held a ceremony to watch the launch.

According to the AEB, when there are episodes of space junk, Brazil must identify the owner of the artifact “with maximum readiness”, following the Treaty on Exploration and Use of Cosmic Space.

“The AEB then communicates to the MRE/Embassy of the Launching State so that it can properly dispose of the object,” the agency said in a statement.

The UN (United Nations) has a registry of all space objects, which allows to know who the launchers are, according to the agency. In Brazil, the registration of space objects is managed by the AEB. Any dropped object must be returned to the casting country.

“The AEB has sought to improve the procedures related to monitoring, dropping, locating and disposing of space objects, following the global attention regarding the increase in space occupation and the consequent concern about space debris”, he said.