Chinese rocket tracker LIVE – China blames US for ‘hyping fears’ after 18-ton section burned up and plunged into ocean

WHERE EXACTLY DID THE CHINESE ROCKET LAND?

After days of fears about where the debris from the Long March 5B Chinese rocket would land, the space junk reportedly ended up in the Indian Ocean.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office said most of the debris was burnt up in the atmosphere before it ever reached Earth, according to Reuters.

Chinese state media reported the debris landed at a location with the coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north.

WHEN DID THE CHINESE ROCKET FIRST LAUNCH?

Pieces of the Long March 5B rocket landed on Earth on Sunday after a few days of worry from the international community about where they would land.

The rocket first first blasted off from China’s Hainan island on April 29.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office said the point of impact for debris from the rocket was in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago, according to Reuters.

WILL CHINA MODIFY FUTURE ROCKET LAUNCHES TO AVOID RE-ENTRY DEBRIS?

After scrutiny from the international community regarding space debris from the re-entry of the Long March rocket, it’s possible China will modify future rocket launches to avoid dealing with the same issue.

China has planned two more Long March 5B launches in 2022, according to Space.com.

But it’s not clear whether or not China will change those future launches in any manner to avoid space debris.

NASA OFFICIAL SAYS COUNTRIES AND COMMERCIAL ENTITIES NEED TO ACT ‘RESPONSIBLY’ WHEN IT COMES TO ROCKET LAUNCHES

NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson in a statement that both countries and commercial enterprises in space travel need to be more responsible about rocket launches and the re-entry of their debris.

“Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations,” he said, according to The Hill.

“China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris…It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities.”

CHINESE OFFICIAL FEELS THERE’S A ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ IN HOW ROCKET RE-ENTRY WAS SCRUTINIZED

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying suggested China was being treated unfairly when it comes to criticisms of how its space program handled the re-entry of the Long March rocket.

“China has been closely tracking its trajectory and issued statements on the re-entry situation in advance,” she said, according to NBC News. “There has been no report of harm on the ground.”

She pointed out how the reaction to debris from a rocket launched by SpaceX that fell to Earth in Washington and on the Oregon coast in March was treated differently.

“American media used romantic rhetoric like ‘shooting stars lighting up the night sky,'” she said. “But when it comes to the Chinese side, it’s a completely different approach.”

“We are willing to work with other countries including the United States to strengthen cooperation in the use of outer space, but we also oppose double standards on this issue.”

CHINESE OFFICIALS DEFEND HANDLING OF LONG MARCH ROCKET RE-ENTRY

After the Long March 5B re-entry drew criticism, Chinese officials defended how they handled the launch and return of the rocket.

“China has been closely tracking its trajectory and issued statements on the re-entry situation in advance,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday.

“There has been no report of harm on the ground. China also shares the results of re-entry predictions through international cooperation mechanisms.”

CHINA PLANS TO USE TWO MORE LONG MARCH ROCKETS IN THE NEAR FUTURE

China’s intent to build its space station involves 11 different launches by the end of 2022, Business Insider reported.

Two of those will involve Long March 5B rockets.

How China’s space agencies will dispose of those rocket bodies is unclear, and may come under further scrutiny after the uncontrolled re-entry of debris from the rocket when it came back to Earth’s atmosphere on Sunday.

“China in 2007 did an anti-satellite test that created a lot of debris and created a lot of international criticism. And they have not repeated that kind of test since then,” John Logsdon, the founder of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and a former member of the NASA Advisory Council, told Insider.

“So it’s conceivable that international pressure could influence the next couple of launches.”

WHAT WERE THE POSSIBLE ENTRY POINTS FOR THE CHINESE ROCKET?

When the Long March rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it could have landed across a large swatch of the planet’s surface.

The object’s orbit took it as far north as New York and Beijing or as far south as New Zealand and southern Chile, according to Business Insider.

“Its trajectory covers much of the populated world,” John Logsdon, the founder of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and a former member of the NASA Advisory Council, told Insider last week.

“So if you can’t control where it reenters [the atmosphere], then there’s a real danger it will reenter someplace with people underneath it.”

HOW FAST WAS THE FALLING CHINESE ROCKET MOVING?

The Chinese Long March 5B rocket was hurtling toward Earth at breakneck speeds before it entered our atmosphere and mostly broke up before landing in the Indian Ocean.

It was falling toward Earth at around 18,000 miles an hour, according to Business Insider.

No one was sure where the space junk would land when it re-entered the atmosphere.

DID THE LONG MARCH ROCKET DAMAGE ANY BUILDINGS?

When the Long March 5B rocket landed on Sunday, it fell into the Indian Ocean, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

The rocket was launched on April 29 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan province, CNBC reported.

Pieces from the first Long March 5B launch fell onto the Ivory Coast in Africa last year, and that re-entry ended up damaging several buildings. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries.

CHINESE ROCKET’S FALL DRAWS CRITICISM FROM US OFFICIALS

US officials like Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were among the critics of how China handled the return of Long March rocket debris to Earth’s atmosphere.

“I think this speaks to the fact that for those of us who operate in the space domain, that there is a requirement — there should be a requirement to — to operate in a safe and thoughtful mode, and make sure that we take those kinds of things into consideration as we plan and conduct operations,” Austin said Thursday.

NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said China “is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris” after the rocket debris finally reached Earth Sunday.

“It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities,” he said.

CHINESE OFFICIAL CLAIMED LIKELIHOOD OF DAMAGE FROM ROCKET WAS LOW

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference Friday it was “common practice” for upper parts of rockets to burn up as they reenter the atmosphere and that there was a low risk from the Long March rocket falling to Earth.

“China is following closely the upper stage’s re-entry into the atmosphere. To my knowledge, the upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will burn up upon reentry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low,” he said.

SOME EXPERTS THOUGHT ROCKET DEBRIS COULD LAND AS FAR NORTH AS NEW YORK

Before debris from the Long March rocket finally re-entered the atmosphere on Sunday, some experts believed it could land as far north as New York.

Debris ultimately landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

The rocket measured 98 feet long and 16.5 feet wide, and it weighed 21 metric tons, according to CNBC.

CHINA HAS INVESTED HEAVILY INTO SPACE PROGRAM

China has invested billions of dollars into its space efforts, according to the BBC.

Back in 2019, it was the first country to send an uncrewed rover to the far side of the Moon and there is some talk on Chinese media of the country doing missions to Mars.

The uncontrolled re-entry of the Long March rocket has drawn some criticism of the country’s practices when it comes to space exploration by other nations.

WHEN DID THE ROCKET RE-ENTER OUR ATMOSPHERE?

The Long March 5B rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 10:24 Beijing time on Sunday, according to the Chinese Manned Space Engineering Office and reported by the BBC.

State media reported debris from the rocket landed in the Indian Ocean at a point 72.47° East and 2.65° North.

BULK OF ROCKET BROKE UP UPON RE-ENTRY

Most of the Long March 5B rocket broke up as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, according to the BBC.

Chinese state media reported debris that did make it to the planet landed just west of the Maldives on Sunday.

The risk of it hitting something other than water was low, but not out of the question, and the uncontrolled nature of the large rocket falling to Earth drew criticism.

ASTROPHYSICIST SAYS IT WAS ‘LAZY’ FOR CHINA NOT TO CONTROL ROCKET DEBRIS

Harvard-based astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Reuters China should have avoided uncontrolled re-entry of the Long March 5B rocket.

“It makes the Chinese rocket designers look lazy that they didn’t address this,” said McDowell.

After large parts of the NASA space station Skylab fell from orbit in July 1979 and landed in Australia, he said most countries have tried to avoid similar re-entries.

HOW BIG IS THE LONG MARCH 5B ROCKET?

The Chinese Long March 5B Rocket about 108 feet tall, according to CNN.

It also weighs nearly 40,000 pounds.

After it launched a new piece of a space station on April 29, it fell toward Earth in an uncontrolled drop with experts having no way of knowing exactly where it would land.

TONS OF SPACE DEBRIS LITTERS EARTH

The fall of the Long March rocket debris may have renewed interest in what falls to Earth when a rocket is launched, but it was far from the first space junk to drop after a launch.

“Earth’s orbit is littered with hundreds of thousands of pieces of uncontrolled junk,” CNN reports.

However, much of it is smaller than ten centimeters. Plus, a lot of it lands in oceans, which cover most of the surface area of the planet.

ROCKET RISK ZONE COVERED ALMOST ALL OF THE AMERICS

When the Long March rocket began to fall toward Earth, its risk zone was massive.

The European Space Agency had predicted a risk zone including almost all of the Americas south of New York, all of Africa and Australia, parts of Asia south of Japan, and Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, according to CNN.

NASA CRITICIZES CHINA OVER ROCKET LANDING

NASA says China didn’t “meet responsible standards” when it came to debris from the Long March 5B rocket.

“Spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximize transparency regarding those operations,” said NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson in a statement.

“China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”

CHINESE ROCKET PREVIOUSLY FELL IN 2020

In May 2020, another Long March 5B rocket slammed through the atmosphere, partially burning up on its descent.

The core fell largely into the Atlantic Ocean, but some debris landed in West Africa.

According to the South China Morning Post, some chunks of debris crashed into inhabited villages in the Ivory Coast, though no injuries were reported.

The module that the rocket was delivering, named Tian He, will become become living quarters for three crew members.

China aims to complete its Chinese Space Station, known as Tiangong by the end of 2022, state media reported, after several further modules are launched.

ROCKET LANDED IN THE INDIAN OCEAN NEAR MALDIVES AND NOT IN SAUDI ARABIA

Some geographer gurus were left guessing after the publicized coordinates documenting the rocket’s last known whereabouts before it submerged suggested it may have crashed in Saudi Arabia.

Not so.

Space-Track: “Yes, we know that the TIP coords (lat 22.2, long 50.0) plot in Saudi Arabia. That was the last place that the @18SPCS computer system recorded it. Operators confirm that the rocket actually went into the Indian Ocean north of the Maldives. We just report the data, folks!”

WHAT IS THE LONG MARCH 5?

Long March 5 are heavy rockets developed by China to be a cornerstone of its space ambitions.

It can carry weights of up to 55,000lbs into low Earth orbit, and 31,000lbs into geostationary orbit.

The two stage rocket is similar in capability to the US Delta IV Heavy – and is regarded as the third most powerful rocket in the world after the Delta and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy.

It is 187ft high, 16ft in diameter and weighs an incredible 1,883,900lbs.

Seven of the rockets have been launched – with one failure back in July 2017.

China has another seven launches planned – including two more delivering parts to an under construction space station in 2022.

LARGE CHINESE ROCKET SEGMENT DISINTEGRATES OVER INDIAN OCEAN

A large segment of a Chinese rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, China’s space agency said, following fevered speculation over where the 18-tonne object would come down.

Officials in Beijing had said there was little risk from the freefalling segment of the Long March-5B rocket, which had launched the first module of China’s new space station into Earth orbit on April 29.

But the US space agency NASA and some experts said China had behaved irresponsibly, as an uncontrolled re-entry of such a large object risked damage and casualties.

“After monitoring and analysis, at 10:24 (0224 GMT) on May 9, 2021, the last-stage wreckage of the Long March 5B Yao-2 launch vehicle has re-entered the atmosphere,” the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement, providing coordinates for a point in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.

It added that most of the segment disintegrated and was destroyed during descent.