A stage of China’s ZQ-2E rocket weighing about 5 tonnes flew over Poland

The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) has confirmed that on Sunday, 18 October 2026, at about 6:13 a stage of a Chinese ZQ-2E rocket weighing about 5,000 kg flew over Poland. The object was recorded by the Skytinel fireball camera network from the vicinity of Bielsko-Biała to the coast of Sweden, meaning it was moving north.

The rocket was launched on 14 October from the Jiuquan launch site in Inner Mongolia; the stage carries the catalogue designations NORAD 101070 and COSPAR 2026-234L. The day before, the agency had forecast the pass between 6:14 and 6:16, and the observation almost matched the forecast.

According to Skytinel experts, this was an ascending leg of the orbit and there was no risk of atmospheric re-entry over Poland: a flyover should not be confused with a fall. As early as Saturday, POLSA had reported that it was tracking the stage’s deorbit: the window was expected from 5:55 to 16:03 on Sunday, with a nominal time of 10:59 Polish time. The agency promised a final statement after verifying the data.