A United Nations committee has shared more details about pieces of space junk found in the NSW Snowy Mountains, while a fourth piece has also been confirmed as belonging to SpaceX.
The latest piece was found by a cattle farmer in Tumbarumba in August, who initially mistook it for rubbish.
The first two pieces of debris were located at neighbouring sheep farms in Dalgety in July, while a third piece later turned up at a property near Jindabyne.
The Australian Space Agency confirmed last month that the first three pieces belonged to a SpaceX mission and have now confirmed the same holds for the fourth piece.
"The Australian Space Agency has worked with SpaceX to confirm the item found in Tumbarumba is from the same SpaceX mission as recent debris in the Snowy Mountains area of southern New South Wales," a spokesperson said.
"The agency is continuing to engage with our global counterparts around next steps on each piece of debris, including whether it will need to be returned and what can be learned from this event."
ANU astrophysicist Brad Tucker, who has inspected each piece in person, says "it's not a big surprise" that the latest piece belongs to SpaceX.
But more pieces could still be out there.
"You could figure out that it was part of one of the internal panels," he said.
"The composition was the same, the make was the same and it was on that flight path."
"This thing is travelling so fast, so even a minute or two at the speeds it was travelling when it hit could spread over a couple of hundred kilometres."
More details emerge
The discovery of fragments came only weeks after locals in the region reported hearing a sonic boom on July 9, believed to be caused by the trunk of the SpaceX Dragon capsule re-entering the earth's atmosphere.
It captured international attention, with the United Nations General Assembly's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space the latest to comment on the event.
A committee address on August 29 has revealed new detail about the first three pieces which were connected to the SpaceX aircraft which launched on November 16, 2020, and jettisoned on May 2, 2021.
They revealed that the fragments were made of titanium, steel, aluminium, fibreglass, carbon fibre and insulation materials and weighed 20, 35 and 100 kilograms respectively.
"The parts are not considered to be of a hazardous or deleterious nature," the statement said.
"They remain in private custody."
A space junk puzzle
The ABC understands that SpaceX officials visited the NSW Snowy Mountains on August 10 to inspect the first three pieces, after publicly acknowledging the incident for the first (and so far only) time days prior.
Mr Tucker said the UN Committee's address is a formality process, but also shows some transparency with how Australia and the United States are managing the incident.
"This is a very clear document of saying, 'This is what happened when SpaceX came out'," he said.
"It's kind of nice to show that an international obligation is playing out."
Mr Tucker anticipates a similar address will occur in the near future in relation to this fourth piece found in Tumbarumba.
But a question mark remains over SpaceX's decision over what to do with the fragments found.
"It's still technically SpaceX's property but whether they want it back or not, and how that process is going to play out has still been unclear," he said.
"I'm still inclined to say that SpaceX won't want it back, but I could be wrong."
The Australian Space Agency is urging the community to not handle pieces of space junk, and to report any sightings to the SpaceX Debris Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or email recovery@spacex.com.
SpaceX has been contacted for comment.
