A Chinese booster rocket on Saturday made an uncontrolled return to Earth, prompting US officials to reprimand Beijing for not sharing information about the potentially dangerous object’s descent.
The US Space Command “can confirm that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered the Indian Ocean at approximately 10:45 a.m. MDT on 7/30,” it wrote. US military unit on Twitter.
“We refer you to #PRC for further details on technical aspects of re-entry such as possible debris distribution + impact location,” he added.
Photo: AFP
In a statement posted on WeChat, China’s National Space Agency later provided coordinates for an impact zone in the Sulu Sea, about 57 km off the Philippine island of Palawan.
“Most of its equipment was destroyed and destroyed during re-entry,” the agency said of the booster rocket, which was used on July 24 to launch the second of three modules needed by China to complete the new Tiangong space station.
Malaysia’s National Space Agency said it detected burning rocket debris during re-entry before falling into the Sulu Sea northeast of Borneo island.
“The missile debris caught fire while entering Earth’s airspace and the movement of the burning debris also crossed Malaysia’s airspace and could be detected in several areas, including passing the airspace around the state of Sarawak,” he said.
Social media users in Malaysia posted a video of what appeared to be missile debris.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Beijing’s failure to share details of the rocket’s descent was irresponsible and dangerous.
“All spaceflight countries should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance, to allow reliable predictions of the potential risk of debris impact, especially for heavy vehicles, such as the Long March 5B, which carry a risk of loss of life and property,” he tweeted.
“Doing so is essential to the responsible use of space and to ensuring the safety of people here on Earth,” he added.
Aerospace Corp, a US-funded non-profit research center near Los Angeles, said it was unwise to allow the entire rocket’s main stage – which weighs about 22 tonnes – to return to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Comments that contain offensive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user will be banned. The final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.
