A Chinese spacecraft serving the country’s permanently orbiting space station has largely burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere, but there are separate concerns over China’s decision to allow a rocket from massive reinforcement fall to Earth unchecked.
Key points:
- China’s space program is run by the People’s Liberation Army
- Last year he was accused by NASA of “failing responsible standards” regarding space debris
- Foreign Office spokesman dismisses concerns over latest rocket to fall to Earth
Only small parts of the Tianzhou-3 cargo ship survived to land safely in a predetermined area in the South Pacific on Wednesday, China’s Manned Space Agency said. It had been undocked from the station’s Tianhe Core Module to allow for the addition of a laboratory module on Monday.
The booster that has caught the attention of the space community was part of the massive 23-ton Long March 5B-Y3 rocket, China’s most powerful, that carried the laboratory module to the station, which currently houses three astronauts .
China decided not to guide the booster through the atmosphere, and it is unclear exactly when or where it will come down to Earth.
It will largely burn up on return, and scientists say the odds of a populated area being affected by such debris are low.
However, in 2020, pieces of the first Long March 5B fell on Ivory Coast and damaged several buildings.
While China is not alone in allowing uncontrolled re-entry, the size of the Long March’s rocket stage has come under particular scrutiny.
Space for play or pause, M for mute, left and right arrows for search, up and down arrows for volume. The Wentian Laboratory Module was launched from Wenchang on a Long March 5B-Y3 carrier rocket. (Reuters)
NASA last year accused China of “failing to meet responsible standards for its space debris” after parts of a Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean.
China also came under heavy criticism after it used a missile to destroy one of its missing weather satellites in 2007, creating a massive debris field.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian dismissed those concerns.
Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Chen Dong and Liu Yang wave from inside the Wentian Laboratory module. (Xinhua via AP Photo: Guo Zhongzheng)
“Since the development stage of the space engineering program, China has taken into account the mitigation of debris and the return from orbit to the atmosphere of missions involving rocket carriers and satellites sent to orbit,” Zhao said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.
“It is understood that this type of rocket adopts a special technical design that most of the components will burn up and be destroyed during the re-entry process.
“The possibility of causing damage to aviation or ground activities is extremely low.”
China’s space program is run by the Communist Party’s ruling military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, and its operation of the space station has continued largely without help from other nations.
The US excluded China from the International Space Station because of military ties to its space program.
AP/Reuters