‘Mystery object’ on Australian beach is part of Indian rocket: Australian space agency
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Sydney: After days of speculation, authorities in Australia confirmed that the mysterious object washed up on its remote beach was probably from an Indian rocket.
The huge ‘barnacle-encrusted cylinder’ first emerged in news in mid-July when beach goers spotted it on Jurien Bay, news agency AFP reported.
The finding led to speculation that the object washed up on coastal region north of Perth in Western Australia may have been a military origin.
Some argued that it had to do with the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
Eventually, the Australian Space Agency clarified that the object was probably debris from an ‘expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’.
After the object was spotted on the beach, authorities imposed restriction on people walking there, warning against coming in contact with it.
It measured nearly two metres high with cables ‘dangling from the top’.
Its origin is now linked to the medium-lift launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The Australian Space Agency said officials from both countries are working together for confirmation of its origin and further steps.
Space junk landing on its shores is nothing new for Australia as in last August a sheep farmer in New South Wales spotted a charred junk from Elon Musk’s SpaceX mission.