Officials believe the 25-ton wreckage re-entered the Indian Ocean around 10:45 a.m. MDT. Witnesses in Malaysia reported seeing bright objects in the sky that looked like meteors, but said they were likely debris. Aerospace Corporation experts closely monitored the booster and believe the vast majority of the rocket burned up in the atmosphere, but said it was possible 20 to 40 percent of the object would have remained intact by the time it reached the ground. So far, there have been no reports of damage or injuries from any of the island nations that surround the eastern Indian Ocean. The sights are similar to China’s missile booster returns in 2020 and 2021, when debris landed over Africa and the Indian Ocean. The Long March-5B rocket launched from China on July 24 and delivered a laboratory module for its new Tiangong Space Station before falling back to Earth. The United States and other counties have criticized China for missile debris return events. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson blamed the People’s Republic of China in a statement about the country’s lack of transparency about the potentially catastrophic event. The United States and other counties have criticized China for missile debris return events. TikTok/this_is_vice So far, there have been no reports of damage or injuries from any of the island nations that surround the eastern Indian Ocean.TikTok/justlydeserved “The People’s Republic of China did not share specific trajectory information as its Long March 5B rocket fell back to Earth. All spaceflight nations should follow established best practices and do their part to share this kind of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy vehicles like the Long March 5B, which involve a significant risk of loss of life and property. Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensuring the safety of people here on Earth,” Nelson said. As of Saturday night, Chinese officials had not publicly commented on the readmission.
