Sharif Padgett and Christina McSouris, CNN Posted Saturday, July 30, 2022 9:02 PM EDT
(CNN) — Debris from a massive Chinese rocket that was spiraling back toward Earth re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean around 12:45 a.m. ET Saturday, the US Space Command said on Twitter.
China’s 23-ton Long March 5B rocket, which delivered a new module to its space station, lifted off from Hainan Island at 2:22 p.m. local time on Sunday, July 24, and the module successfully docked with China’s orbital outpost. Since then, the rocket has been in an uncontrolled descent into Earth’s atmosphere – marking the third time China has been accused of failing to properly deal with space debris from its rocket stage.
“No other country is putting these 20-ton things in orbit to come back again in an uncontrolled way,” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Saturday afternoon.
In a statement on Twitter Saturday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote that China “did not share specific information about the trajectory” when the rocket fell back to Earth.
“All space 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 such as the Long March 5B, that carry a significant risk of loss of life and property,” Nelson said.
“This is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensuring the safety of people here on Earth,” he added.
In a statement, the China Manned Space Agency said debris from the rocket re-entered the atmosphere around 12:55 a.m. Sunday Beijing time — or around 12:55 p.m. ET Saturday.
The agency added that most of the wreckage had burned up during the return process over the Sulu Sea, which is between the island of Borneo and the Philippines.
“What we really want to know is if any pieces actually stayed on the ground,” McDowell told CNN. “It may take a little longer for the reports to filter back.”
A video posted online appears to show what experts believe are images of a rocket booster burning up in the atmosphere, but CNN could not confirm their authenticity.
Vanessa Julan, a resident of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, shared a video with CNN showing what appears to be burning missile debris.
She told CNN that she took the footage around 12:50 a.m. local time, which is the same as Beijing time.
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