Beijing downplays fears as Chinese rocket set to tumble back to Earth in uncontrolled re-entry
08 May, 2021
A large segment of a Chinese rocket is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry in to the Earth's atmosphere on the weekend, but Beijing has downplayed fears and said you will find a very low threat of any damage.
A Long March 5B rocket launched the first module of China's new space station into Earth's orbit on Apr 29. Its 18-tonne main segment is currently in free fall and authorities have said it is difficult to state precisely where and when it'll re-enter the atmosphere.
Re-entry is likely to be around 11pm GMT on Saturday (7am on Sunday, Singapore time), in line with the Pentagon, with a window of plus or minus nine hours either side.
Chinese authorities have said most of the rocket components may likely be destroyed on re-entry.
"The probability of causing harm ... on the floor is incredibly low," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday.
Although there's been fevered speculation over accurately where the rocket - or parts of it - will land, there is a good chance any debris that will not burn will just splash into the ocean on a planet made up of 70 % water.
"We're hopeful that it'll land in a location where it will not harm anyone," said Pentagon spokesman Mike Howard.
Howard said america was tracking the rocket segment but "its actual entry point in to the Earth's atmosphere can't be pinpointed until within hours of its re-entry".
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier said that the US military had no plans to shoot it down, and suggested that China have been negligent in allowing it to fallout of orbit.
"Given how big is the thing, there will necessarily be big pieces left," said Florent Delefie, an astronomer at the Paris-PSL Observatory.
"The probability of debris landing on an inhabited zone are tiny, probably one in a million."
In 2020, debris from another Long March rocket fell on villages in the Ivory Coast, creating structural damage but no injuries or deaths.
Source: