Photo: Xinhua News Agency
The descent of the Long March 5B rocket had been labelled an uncontrolled re-entry by the US military, and was being tracked by US Space Command.
It entered the atmosphere at 2.14pm (NZT).
@18SPCS confirms that CZ-5B (#LongMarch5B) (48275 / 2021-035B) reentered atmosphere 9 May at 0214Z and fell into the Indian ocean north of the Maldives at lat 22.2, long 50.0. That s all we have on this re-entry; thanks for the wild ride and 30K more followers. Good night! Space-Track (@SpaceTrackOrg) May 9, 2021
Coordinates provided by the China Manned Space Engineering Office put the point of impact in the sea somewhere south-west of India and Sri Lanka.
By Ken MeyerMay 9th, 2021, 9:08 am
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
NASA leadership is accusing China of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris” following the return to Earth by their Long March 5B Y2 rocket.
On Saturday night, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) reported that most of the rocket burned up during atmospheric re-entry, and the remaining debris is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean, just west of the Maldives. This rocket’s return was deemed an uncontrolled re-entry, and because of the concerns that the debris could’ve impacted land, NASA Administrator
The Chinese agency said early Sunday that the rocket, called the Long March 5B, had re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time, landing at a location with coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north. That would put the impact location in the Indian Ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago. The vast majority of the device burned up during the reentry, and the landing area of the debris is around a sea area with the center at 2.65 degrees north latitude and 72.47 degrees east longitude, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement on its website.
U.S. Space Command said in a statement that the Long March 5B had re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 p.m. ET on May 8. It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water, it said.