Debris of a Chinese rocket fell to Earth. The US said that Beijing did not share information about this

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

Debris of a Chinese missile fell to Earth over the Indian Ocean. NASA said Beijing had not provided the specific trajectory information needed to know where the debris might fall.

Reuters writes about it.

“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. Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

In Malaysia, people have posted a video on social media of what appears to be rocket debris.

Aerospace Corp, a non-profit research center funded by the US government, said it was reckless to allow the entire main stage of the rocket, which weighs 22.5 tons, to return to Earth unchecked.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington had no comment. Earlier this week, Beijing said it would closely monitor the wreckage and stressed that it posed no danger to anyone on Earth.

  • On Sunday, July 24, China launched the second of three modules of its space station. The 23-tonne Wentian (Search for Heavens) laboratory module launched on a Chinese Long March 5B rocket from the Space Launch Center in the southern province of Hainan. Wentian separated from the rocket about 10 minutes after launch.