The incident, which comes less than a year after SpaceX’s “rescue” of the Boeing crew, underscores two increasingly critical issues: spaceflight systems need to be standardized to enable cross-nation rescues, and space debris is becoming impossible to ignore.

The irony wouldn’t be lost on Reg readers if the debris that - possibly - struck Shenzhou-20 originated from a Chinese anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test years ago.

Oopsie daisy!