GUEUX (51) 25.08.2025

On the evening of 25 August 2025, a woman in Gueux, Marne, watched from her rural terrace as a white trail moved slowly in a straight line from west to east and gradually disappeared. Two other witnesses also saw it, and photographs were taken. GEIPAN considers the sighting only slightly unusual and well supported by multiple witnesses and photographs. It was formally identified as an orbital manoeuvre by the Chinese Long March 8 rocket, CZ-8 R/B, which was deploying satellites for the Guowang internet megaconstellation (see the investigation report). The visible phenomenon was a spreading cloud of gas ejected by a launcher stage following either an engine restart or propellant venting. Sunlight illuminated the gas even though the Sun had already set for observers on the ground. Numerous matching reports along the trajectory in France, Belgium and Germany were recorded on reporting platforms. Many websites, including VigieCiel, reported this influx of sightings. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of an orbital manoeuvre by a Chinese Long March 8 rocket. In GEIPAN’s terminology, evidential support is the amount of reliable, objectively established information collected for an account.