China says remains of rocket booster fall to Earth

BEIJING

The Chinese government announced that debris from a rocket which lifted part of China’s space station into orbit fell into a Philippine sea on Sunday.

China Manned Space Agency reported that the Long March-5B rocket’s last stage was most damaged after it entered the atmosphere at 12 :55 a.m. The agency said The booster was allowed to go unguided earlier.

The announcement didn’t give any details about whether debris was still on land or at sea. said The “landing zone” was located at 119° East Longitude and 9.1° North Latitude. This is southeast of Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, on the island Palawan.

Philippine authorities didn’t immediately respond to inquiries about whether anyone was injured.

China has been criticised for allowing rocket stages to uncontrolled fall to Earth twice previously. NASA charged Beijing with “failing to comply with responsible standards regarding their debris space” last year after parts of a Chinese rocket were found in the Indian Ocean.

In 2016, Tiangong-1 (the country’s first orbital space station), crashed into the Pacific Ocean after Beijing confirmed its loss of control. Uncontrolled, an 18-ton rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean in May 2020.

China was also criticized for using a missile against one of its satellites to degrade in 2007, creating a cloud of debris that was viewed by other governments. said Other satellites could be at risk.

China’s most powerful rocket, the Long March-5B launched on July 24 to carry the Wentian laboratory into orbit. It was attached to the Tianhe mainmodul, where three astronauts are currently living.

After most of its cargo was destroyed on re-entry and the rest of it being used for service, the remains of another cargo spacecraft were found in a predetermined area in the South Pacific.