PARABNORMAL NEWS — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. U.S. Space Command says debris from a Chinese rocket made re-entry and fell to earth on Friday (Nov. 4th).
#USSPACECOM can confirm the People’s Republic of China Long March 5B #CZ5B rocket re-entered the atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean at 4:01am MDT/10:01 UTC on 11/4. For details on the uncontrolled reentry’s impact location, we once again refer you to the #PRC.
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) November 4, 2022
The piece weighing 23 tons landed in the Pacific Ocean. It was left over from the core stage of a Long March 5B rocket used to launch the third and final module to China’s Tiangong Space Station on October 31st.
The core stage reached orbit without any way to safely push it back to Earth, leaving uncertainty over where it might land. Spain closed a section of airspace for a time out of precaution. China’s most powerful rocket has no way to steer itself after launch.
This is the fourth time in two and a half years that launches by the China National Space Administration have spilled debris. In July, a 25-ton core stage fell through Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
Related: Rocket Remains Crash Down To Earth
Another littered the same body of water a year earlier. And in May of 2020, rocket debris landed over West Africa, reportedly leaving space junk across the Ivory Coast.
China is planning at least six more rocket launches as soon as the middle of next year. While there are no international agreements to prevent these incidents, the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and New Zealand have voluntarily agreed not to conduct destructive anti-satellite tests.
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