The 23-tonne debris of a massive Chinese rocket has fallen safely into the Pacific Ocean, according to a tweet from the United States Space Command.
It’s the fourth time in two years that the Chinese rocket’s has hit the Earth after an uncontrolled re-entry from space. The piece was part of the Long March 5B rocket that launched the third and final module of China’s new Tiangong space station.
While the spent rocket booster burned up during re-entry, some larger components and other debris landed on the surface of the Earth.
“#USSPACECOM can confirm the People’s Republic of China Long March 5B #CZ5B rocket re-entered the atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean at 4:01am MDT/10:01 UTC on 11/4. For details on the uncontrolled reentry’s impact location, we once again refer you to the #PRC,” the US Space Command tweeted.
The massive piece was left from the core stage of the rocket that was launched on October 31, according to a report in space.com.
From the moment it was reported that the rocket will fall in an uncontrolled manner, experts were speaking against it. “Here we go again,” Ted Muelhaupt, a consultant for Aerospace Corporation, which tracks orbital re-entries, had said on Wednesday.
The rocket was used to send Mengtian, the final part of the space station, to orbit for installation, according to CNET report. The booster is roughly the size of a 10-storey building.
Mengtian, Tiangong’s second lab module, is the last “building block” that allows the space station to form a T-shape structure, the planned layout at its completion.
With this the construction of the space station entered its final stages, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier, Chinese space officials said the station is due to be completed this year.