Chinese Space Rocket Debris Crashes Back to Earth Over Ocean

The US and China confirmed that the Chinese rocket booster crashed into the Indian Ocean on Saturday.

The US Space Command said on Saturday that it was not clear what path the debris would take. According to a statement from China's spaceflight agency, most of the debris burning up upon reentering was in the southwestern Philippines.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement that the PRC did not give specific trajectory information as their Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth.

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, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property.

There was no chance of injury or infrastructure damage. A nonprofit corporation based in El Segundo, California that provides technical advice for space missions and receives US funding said that the rocket body was dragged toward the Earth's atmosphere.

Experts predicted before re-entry that huge chunks of the booster would fall to the ocean or the ground. Projections showed a ground track that crossed parts of Mexico and Brazil, then skirted the Cape of Africa before entering Southeast Asia.

A Chinese rocket booster has entered in as many as three times. Concerns were raised that the Chinese space agency had lost control of the Long March rocket after it landed in the Indian Ocean.

Uncontrolled re-entries can be avoided, experts have said. When a rocket booster makes a vertical landing, it is captured, refurbished and re-used in subsequent launches.

Western concerns over the debris have been dismissed by China.

The US and Western media exaggerate the loss-of-control of the Chinese rocket debris and the probability of personal injury caused by the rocket debris, according to a news site.

The Long March 5B rocket carried a module for China's under-construction space station after taking off on July 24. The US barred Beijing from taking part in the International Space Station.