A farmer harvesting maize in west-central Minnesota has found a circular metal object about 11 feet across lying among the corn stalks, and local deputies believe it fell from space.
The Stevens County Sheriff's Office said it received a telephone call reporting the discovery on Wednesday, in Scott Township, a community in the west-central part of the state.
“Upon responding, deputies confirmed that a large, metallic object, approximately 11-feet in diameter, presumably a space object, was present in the cornfield,” the Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook. It added that it was “working closely with several state and federal agencies to identify and notify the owner of the debris and to plan for removal from the field.”
Law enforcement officials said the debris posed no danger to the public.
Ars Technica, which reported the find, traced it to the launch of a Zhuque-2E rocket on 15 September. The medium-lift vehicle, built by the Chinese company LandSpace, lifted off from Dongfeng, a commercial launch zone co-located with the military-run Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in north-western China.
The flight lasted between 75 and 80 minutes and the rocket came down without completing a full orbit of the Earth. Social media posts that night showed streaks of fiery debris falling north over Kansas towards Minnesota, and the display was visible on the western horizon from Wisconsin.
The upper stage of a Zhuque-2E is 11 feet, or 3.35 metres, in diameter, which matches the size of the object found in the field. What makes the Minnesota debris unusual is that it is larger than most objects that survive re-entry, and that it came from a rocket which fell from space on the day it launched.
The rocket released 10 satellites for the Qianfan, or Thousand Sails, communications network, a Chinese counterpart to SpaceX's Starlink constellation, into a circular polar orbit roughly 560 miles, or 900 kilometres, up about half an hour after lift-off. China has launched 258 Qianfan satellites since 2024, on the way to an initial constellation of 1,296, with longer-term ambitions of more than 15,000.
The methane-fuelled upper stage then fired its engine to slow down and drop out of orbit. Deliberately deorbiting a spent stage is normally considered responsible practice, because it limits the creation of new debris in low-Earth orbit. Operators usually steer such re-entries towards the ocean, which suggests the burn did not go to plan. LandSpace has not publicly acknowledged the debris fall.
Under international law, the country that launched an object into space is liable for any damage it causes on the ground.
That is the legal position. The administrative position, as set out by the Stevens County Sheriff's Office, is that the object has an owner, and that the owner has not yet been notified.
This newspaper regards that as the correct approach. Whatever else an 11-foot methane-powered upper stage may be, it is property, and property found in a field is lost property.
The procedure from here is well established. The item is large, circular and metallic. It was discovered by the finder in the course of ordinary work. It has been reported to the sheriff. Several state and federal agencies are assisting with identification. All that remains is for somebody to come forward and describe it.
The Department of Unnecessary Research notes that the usual test is whether a claimant can account for the item's distinguishing features. Here the distinguishing feature is a diameter of 3.35 metres, which narrows the field to one manufacturer.
There is also the question of collection. The object is lying in a field that is being harvested, and the sheriff's office has said it is planning for its removal. Space law assigns liability for damage. It is silent on who loads.
Until the owner replies, the position can be stated simply. There are 258 Qianfan satellites in orbit and 1,296 planned, and one upper stage in Scott Township, waiting for someone to confirm that it is theirs.