The dangerous China space rocket debris crashes back to Earth in this location

After a lot of fear was generated about it, the uncontrolled Chinese space rocket debris crashed back to Earth on July 30. This 25-ton core stage of China’s Long March 5B re-entered the atmosphere and crashed into the Indian Ocean around 10:15 p.m. IST, space officials confirmed. Uncertainty about where the rocket would land rippled across the world this past week. It was feared that the China space rocket would crash somewhere in populated areas, causing injuries or worse to people. However, the wreckage of the Chinese space rocket raised concerns over the responsibility of space junk.

U.S. Space Command took to Twitter to confirm the re-entry of China’s Long March 5B debris. The tweet reads, “#USSPACECOM can confirm the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approx 10:45 am MDT on 7/30. We refer you to the #PRC for further details on the reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal+ impact location.” Meanwhile, a video surfaced online showing the Chinese rocket breaking up over Malaysia’s Kuching.

However, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson tweeted while criticizing China for failing to maintain standards of space junk, he says, “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) did not share specific trajectory information as their Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth.” He further added, “All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property.” According to Nelson, this is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth.

The crash remnants were from the Long March 5B rocket which lifted off on July 24 to China’s under-construction Tiangong space station. The Long March 5B reached orbit alongside its payload, in contrast to the core stages of most rockets, which are guided to safe disposal shortly after launch or land softly for further reuse. It continued to rise as a giant, rapidly moving piece of space junk until atmospheric pull abruptly and uncontrollably dragged it back to Earth.