The long March-5B launch vehicle (Changzhen-5B, CZ-5B), which put the module of the Chinese station into orbit, entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, most of the wreckage burned down.
This is stated in the statement of the program of space manned flights of the People’s Republic of China:
“On May 9, at 10:24 (05:24 Moscow time), the wreckage of the second stage of the Changzhen-5B launch vehicle entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The landing zone is located in the area of 72.47 degrees east longitude, 2.65 degrees north latitude. The vast majority of the wreckage burned up during the entrance to the atmosphere,”
On 29 April, the Chinese National Space Administration, with the help of the Carrier Changzhen-5B, put the main module of the country’s space station into orbit. The launch was declared a success.
In turn, the U.S. Space Command reported that the second stage of the missile entered the atmosphere “over the Arabian Peninsula at about 22:15 et time of the East Coast, May 8” (5:15 Moscow time, May 9).
According to the press service, the wreckage “fell in the Indian Ocean area north of the Maldives.”
Earlier in an interview with CNN, Pentagon spokesman Mike Howard said the U.S. Air Forces are monitoring the movement of the wreckage of the missile.
He also noted that the risks of the fall of the C-5B on objects on Earth “cannot be completely ruled out”.
