China uncontrollably drops launch vehicle on Earth | Science and technology news

Debris from a rocket that put part of China’s new space station into orbit has fallen into the sea in the Philippines, the Chinese government said.

The China Manned Space Agency said most of the Long March-5B rocket’s final stage burned up after entering the atmosphere.

Previously, the agency announced that it would drop the booster unguided.

The location of the “landing pad” mentioned in the announcement is in waters southeast of the Philippine city of Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan.

Philippine authorities did not immediately confirm if anyone was affected.

China has previously been criticized for allowing rocket components to fall back to earth in an uncontrolled manner.

Nasa last year accused Beijing of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding its space debris” after parts of a Chinese rocket crashed into the Indian Ocean.

The country’s first space station, Tiangong-1, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2016 after Beijing confirmed it had lost control. May 2020, an 18-ton rocket crashed uncontrollably.

China also faced opposition after it used a missile to destroy one of its defunct weather satellites in 2007, creating a debris field that other governments feared could endanger other satellites.

Continue reading: China is sending three astronauts into space to complete its new space station

The Long March-5B on Jul 24, China’s most powerful rocket, carried the Wentian laboratory into orbit on Jul 24. It was attached to the main module of Tianhe, where three astronauts live, on Monday.

The remains of a separate cargo spacecraft serving the station fell into a pre-determined area of ​​the South Pacific, after most of it was burned on re-entry, the government had previously announced.