On 4 November 2022, Spanish authorities took the unusual step of temporarily closing airspace over parts of the country after debris from a Chinese rocket re‑entered over Spanish territory. According to ENAIRE, the Spanish air navigation service, flights in Catalonia and several other regions were fully restricted from 09:38 to 10:18 CET due to the uncontrolled re‑entry of a large stage of the Long March 5B rocket from China. (Reuters)
The rocket stage in question had launched from China to deliver a module of its space station and it re‑entered the atmosphere in a descending orbital path that crossed Spanish national airspace. (The Guardian) As a precaution, ENAIRE imposed an exclusion zone of 100 km either side of the trajectory during the period of passage. (The Guardian)
The impact on aviation was significant: the state‑run airport operator Aena reported that around 300 flights of the 5,484 scheduled that day across Spain’s 46 airports were delayed as a result of the closure. (Reuters)
Though there were no reported injuries or damage in Spain, the episode highlights rising concerns over “space junk” and uncontrolled rocket stages re‑entering the atmosphere. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson maintained that the probability of harm to aviation and ground infrastructure was “extremely low.” (The Guardian)
Analysts say the incident may prompt European regulators to press for stronger international standards on uncontrolled re‑entry of large rocket components. In the meantime, Spanish airports and airlines must factor in such rare but disruptive events when assessing air‑traffic risk.
