A Chinese space rocket launched last Sunday had an uncontrolled return to the atmosphere on Saturday and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean, reported US sources who blamed Beijing for not sharing information about the potentially dangerous descent.
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“The Long March-5B rocket of the People’s Republic of China re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean on July 30 at 10:45 a.m.,” confirmed the US Space Force Command on its Twitter account.
For details on the dispersion of the debris and the exact location of the impact, the US military center cited the Chinese authorities, which on July 24 launched the second of the three modules of its Tiangong space stationwhich should be fully operational by the end of the year.
In a statement posted on its official WeChat profile, the China Manned Space Agency later gave other coordinates of an impact zone in the Sulu Sea, about 57 kilometers off the east coast of the Philippine island of Palawan.
“All nations conducting space activities must adhere to best practices because falling objects of this size pose a significant risk.”
“Most of its devices were ripped out and destroyed during re-entry” to Earth, the agency said of the module’s booster rocket.
“The rocket debris caught fire as it entered Earth’s airspace and the movement of the burning debris also crossed Malaysian airspace and could be detected in several areas,” the Malaysian space agency said.
The Long March-5B rocket was not designed to control its descent from orbit, something that, like previous releases, has generated criticism.
China “has not given precise information on the trajectory of its Long March-5B rocket,” NASA space agency chief Bill Nelson said on Saturday. “All nations that carry out space activities must adhere to best practices” because the fall of objects of this size “poses a significant risk for the loss of life or property”, added the hierarch.
There is immense heat and friction when craft enter the atmosphere, so parts can burn and disintegrate, but larger craft, like the Long March-5B, may not be completely destroyed.
China has invested billions of dollars in spaceflight, in order to build a program that reflects its status as a rising world power.
Washington, AFP
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