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May 7, 2021
The likelihood of damage to Earth from a Chinese rocket dropping out of control from space is considered "extremely low" by China.
Image above: The Long-March 5B rocket, carrying the first of three elements of the future Chinese space station core Tianhe, during take-off from Wenchang, in southern China, on April 29, 2021.
China on Friday judged the probability of damage on Earth linked to the fall from space of one of its rockets, which is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere this weekend, "extremely low". The Asian country launched the first of three elements of its future space station last week. The launch was carried out with a Long-March 5B rocket. It is the body of this launcher, still in Earth orbit but gradually losing altitude, that must return to Earth. The point of impact of his fall remains difficult to predict for now.
Falling area in red
The United States is not ruling out that debris is crashing into a populated area and has said it is monitoring the situation closely. "Due to the technical design of this rocket, the majority of the components will be burned and destroyed upon re-entry," Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said Friday. "The probability of causing damage to air activities or (to people, buildings and activities) on the ground is extremely low," he said at a regular press conference.
Irregular trajectory
After the separation of the space module, the launcher began to orbit the planet in an irregular trajectory, slowly losing altitude, making any prediction of its point of entry into the atmosphere almost impossible. If it remains intact after re-entering the atmosphere, there is a good chance that the rocket will crash into the sea because the planet is 70% water. But it could also crash into an inhabited area or onto a ship.
Tiangong-1 space laboratory
This is not the first time that China has lost control of a space object upon its return to Earth. In April 2018, the Tiangong-1 space laboratory disintegrated on re-entry into the atmosphere, two years after it ceased to function. The Chinese authorities had denied that the laboratory had escaped their control.
Related article:
CASC - Long March-5B Y2 launches the Tianhe Core Module
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/casc-long-march-5b-y2-launches-tianhe.html
For more information about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), visit: http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html
Images, Text, Credits: CASC/AFP/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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