"Chinese Space Junk Creates Spectacular Fireball Over Southern California"
The U.S. Space Command confirmed that the fireball seen across Southern California was not a meteor, but the re-entry of a Chinese module used to launch astronauts in 2022. The module's heat shield burned away, giving it the appearance of a meteor shower, and it was expected to break up over the Pacific Ocean. This incident highlights the issue of space junk in low-Earth orbit, as the increasing number of satellites and defunct spacecraft pose a risk of collisions and contribute to the growing amount of debris orbiting Earth.