Chinese rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean, criticized by NASA

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BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) – The remains of China’s largest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed when it re-entered the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over the place where debris would strike but drawing criticism from the United States for lack of transparency.

Coordinates given by Chinese state media, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office, locate the point of impact in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago.

The debris from the Long March 5B has drawn some skyward attention since it took off from the Chinese island of Hainan on April 29, but the China Manned Space Engineering Office said most of the debris had been burnt in the atmosphere.

State media reported that parts of the rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time (02:24 GMT) and landed at a location with the coordinates of 72.47 degrees east longitude and 2 latitude, 65 degrees north.

U.S. Space Command has confirmed the rocket reentry over the Arabian Peninsula, but said it was not known whether the debris touched land or water.

“The exact location of the impact and the extent of the debris, both currently unknown, will not be disclosed by US Space Command,” he said in a statement posted on its website.

La Longue Marche was the second deployment of the 5B variant since its maiden flight in May 2020. Last year parts of the first Longue Marche 5B fell on Côte d’Ivoire, damaging several buildings. No injuries were reported.

“Space nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth from re-entry of space objects and maximize transparency regarding these operations,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former senator and astronaut who was chosen for the role in March, in a statement. declaration after the start of the school year.

“It is clear that China is failing to meet liability standards regarding its space debris.”

ANXIETY OVER THE POTENTIAL DEBRIS ZONE

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the core module of China’s Tianhe space station, takes off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province, China on April 29, 2021. China Daily via REUTERS

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With most of the Earth’s surface covered in water, the chances of a populated area on Earth being affected were low and the likelihood of injury even lower, experts said.

But uncertainty over the rocket’s orbital decay and China’s inability to provide further reassurance as the re-entry approaches have fueled anxiety.

“It is essential that China and all space nations and business entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the long-term safety, stability, security and sustainability of space activities,” said Nelson.

Harvard-based astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Reuters the potential debris area could have been as far north as New York, Madrid or Beijing, and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington, New Zealand. -Zeeland.

Since large chunks of the NASA Skylab space station fell from orbit in July 1979 and landed in Australia, most countries have sought to avoid such uncontrolled re-entries through the design of their spacecraft, has McDowell said.

“It makes Chinese rocket designers look lazy that they haven’t addressed this,” McDowell said.

The Global Times, a Chinese tabloid, called “Western hype” concerns that the rocket was “out of control” and could cause damage.

“It is a common practice around the world for the upper stages of rockets to burn on entering the atmosphere,” Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a regular press conference on the 7th. may.

“To my knowledge, the top stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will burn on reentry, making the likelihood of damage to air or land facilities and activities extremely low,” he said. Wang said at the time. .

The rocket, which has put into orbit an unmanned Tianhe module containing what will become living quarters for three crew members on a permanent Chinese space station, will be followed by 10 more missions to complete the station by 2022.

Reporting by Ryan Woo, Hallie Gu, Xiao Han; Editing by Himani Sarkar

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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