Debris from a rocket that put part of China’s new space station into orbit has fallen into the sea off the Philippines, the Chinese government has announced.
China’s Manned Space Agency said most of the final stage of the Long March-5B rocket burned up after entering the atmosphere.
Earlier, the agency had said it planned to allow the booster to fall unguided.
The location of the “landing area” cited by the announcement is in waters southeast of the Philippine city of Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan.
Philippine authorities did not immediately confirm whether anyone had been affected.
China has previously faced criticism for allowing rocket components to fall to Earth unchecked.
NASA last year accused Beijing of “breaching responsible standards for its space debris” after parts of a Chinese rocket plummeted 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. An 18-ton rocket fell out of control in May 2020.
China also came under fire after it used a missile to destroy one of its missing weather satellites in 2007, creating a debris field that other governments feared could endanger other satellites.
Read more: China launches three astronauts to complete its new space station
On July 24, the Long March-5B, China’s most powerful rocket, launched the Wentian Laboratory into orbit on July 24. It was attached to the main Tianhe module on Monday, where three astronauts live.
Debris from a separate cargo spacecraft servicing the station fell in a predetermined area in the South Pacific after most of it burned up on re-entry, the government had previously announced.