The US Space Command confirmed that a Chinese booster rocket that helped launch part of a space station into orbit landed on Saturday over Southeast Asia.
Officials believe the 25-ton debris re-entered over the Indian Ocean around 10:45 a.m. EDT.
Witnesses in Malaysia reported seeing bright objects in the sky that looked like meteors, but said they were likely debris.
Experts in aerospace company He followed the booster closely and believed the vast majority of the rocket burned up in the atmosphere, but he said it was possible that up to 20 to 40 percent of the body would remain intact until it hit Earth.
So far, there have been no reports of damage or casualties from any of the island nations surrounding the eastern Indian Ocean.
The scenes resemble the return of a Chinese missile booster in 2020 and 2021 when debris fell over Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The Long March-5B rocket was launched from China on July 24 and delivered a lab module to the new Tiangong Space Station, before falling back toward Earth.
The United States and other provinces criticized China for the missile wreckage repatriation events.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson criticized the People’s Republic of China in a statement about the country’s lack of transparency about the potentially catastrophic event.
The People’s Republic of China did not share specific information about the path where the Long March 5B missile fell to the ground. All space-faring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risks, particularly for heavy vehicles, such as the Long March 5B, which have a significant risk of loss of life and property. . Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensuring the safety of people here on Earth, Nelson said.
As of Saturday evening, Chinese officials had not publicly commented on the re-entry.
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