And in November, after a Long March 3B satellite launched two satellites into orbit, parts of the rocket's boosters crashed into a nearby Chinese settlement.Īmong the largest human-made objects to make uncontrolled re-entries are NASA's Skylab space station, which burned up over the Indian Ocean and western Australia in 1979, and the Soviet Union's Salyut 7 space station, which plummeted back to Earth in 1991 and broke up over Argentina. In March, a massive side booster was found downrange from a launch site in Xichang, in China's Sichuan province. (Image credit: CASC) A spent rocket stage from a Chinese launch of a trio of spy satellites burned up over Texas last week. This isn't the first time parts of a Chinese rocket have fallen over populated areas. The rocket's upper stage fell to Earth over Texas on March 7, 2023. That's definitely not the current best practice by international standards.' The Chinese Long March 5B rocket is expected to enter Earth’s atmosphere around May 8, according to a statement from Defense Department spokesperson Mike Howard, who said the US Space.

'This rocket stage was just let in low-Earth orbit until friction brought it down. 'You might make it so that the engine can restart after you've delivered your satellite into orbit, so you fire up the engine and bring the rocket stage in over the South Pacific, where it's not going to hit anyone,' McDowell said. April 9, 202001:10 In low-Earth orbit, the rocket stage would have been traveling at roughly 18,000 mph, but friction would have significantly slowed the debris as it made the fiery journey. While it's common for spent rocket parts to fall back to Earth after boosting spacecraft or satellites into orbit, space agencies and satellite companies typically take extra precautions for decommissioned satellites or rocket stages of this size so they aren't left to make uncontrolled re-entries. McDowell estimated that any pieces that don't burn up would hit the ground at 100 mph. In low-Earth orbit, the rocket stage would have been traveling at roughly 18,000 mph, but friction would have significantly slowed the debris as it made the fiery journey through the atmosphere. 'It's just a strange coincidence that it happened to fly over two major urban areas on its last orbit, but if it had come down earlier, there would have been some drama.'Ĭhina launched the Long March 5B rocket on May 5 as part of an uncrewed test flight of a new crew capsule. US and Western media deliberately exaggerate the loss of control of China’s rocket debris and the probability of injury, obviously with bad intentions, Shanghai-based news site.

'On its last orbit of the Earth, this rocket stage happened to pass directly over Los Angeles and New York City,' McDowell said. A 20-ton piece of a Chinese rocket passed over New York City and Los Angeles before it crashed to the Earth this week, scientists tracking its descent say.

About 15 to 20 minutes before that, the debris sailed over New York City, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. ET as it was flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Space Force's 18th Space Control Squadron, which tracks space junk and re-entries from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, confirmed that the rocket stage passed through Earth's atmosphere Monday at 11:33 a.m.

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