The Chinese government said Wednesday that the missile’s re-entry to Earth would pose little risk to anyone on the ground because it would likely land in the sea.
Debris from a Chinese rocket is expected to fall to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry into orbit this weekend.
The chance of them landing in any residential area is extremely small, the BBC reports.
Bookmark this Aerospace website for links to all #CZ5B reentry sources and updates. https://t.co/Fh20JnNCV3
— The Aerospace Corporation (@AerospaceCorp) July 29, 2022
It is noted that there have been calls from Nasa for the Chinese space agency to design its rockets to disintegrate into smaller pieces on re-entry into Earth orbit, as is the international norm.
But the rockets headed for China’s unfinished space station, known as Tiangong, do not have the capability for controlled re-entry.
The most recent launch was on Sunday, when a Long March 5 rocket carried a laboratory module to the Tiangong station.
The Chinese government said Wednesday that the missile’s re-entry to Earth would pose little risk to anyone on the ground because it would likely land in the sea.
However, there is a possibility that pieces of the missile could fall over a residential area, as happened in May 2020 when it damaged property in Ivory Coast.
The empty body of the rocket is now in an elliptical orbit around Earth where it is dragged towards an uncontrolled reentry.
According to The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit organization based in California, re-entry will occur around 00:24 GMT on Sunday, plus or minus 16 hours.
It’s too early to know exactly where the 25-ton piece of debris will land.
The potential area where debris could fall spans the US, Africa, Australia, Brazil, India and Southeast Asia, according to the company’s predictions.
Our latest prediction for #CZ5B rocket body reentry is:
🚀30 Jul 2022 19:24 UTC ± 7 hours
Reentry will be along one of the ground tracks shown here. It is still too early to determine a meaningful debris footprint. Follow this page for updates: https://t.co/SxrMtcrMrs pic.twitter.com/dkSLKwkv9x— The Aerospace Corporation (@AerospaceCorp) July 29, 2022
View the news feed and get the latest news.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
